Fate One Savior
by Gashadokuro Amanojaku
Summary: The Holy Grail War. Seven magi summon a hero to compete for the Holy Grail. But Angra Mainyu had witnessed the same battle so many times that he decided to change the heroes and to make it interesting chooses some from alternative universes. But it seems he is not the only one trying to interfere in the 4th Grail War. Inspired by TIM. M because of violence, death and swearing.
1. Prolog: Kaleidoscope

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Not even the overall idea is mine. All characters and settings from media belong to their respective owners. But I'll be throwing in some original characters, who I've created under (most of) the rules of the nasuverse.

Prolog: Kaleidoscope

„_A Base of Silver and Steel._

_A foundation of stone and the Archduke of Contracts._

_And my ancestor, my great Master, Schweineorg._

_A wall to block the falling wind._

_The gates of all four directions close._

_From the Crown, come fourth and follow the forked road to the Kingdom._

_Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill._

_Fill Five times._

_But destroy each when filled_

_I hereby propose!_

_Thou shalt come under my command, and thy sword shalt control my fate._

_Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail, if thou accedest to this will and reason, answer me._

_I hereby swear._

_I am all that is good in the eternal world._

_I am the disposer of evil in the eternal world._

_Thou, clad with the Great Trinity, come fourth from the circle of constraint._

_Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!_"

Angra Mainyu listened to the sound of the summoning ritual. Yes, it was time again. The Holy Grail War. A battle royal where seven magi summoned seven Heroic Spirits, heroes from the past and let them fight against each other. The last one standing would be allowed to claim the Holy Grail for himself and make a wish upon it.

The wish would be fulfilled. But what they didn't knew was that after the end of the Third Holy Grail War all the wishes would be twisted. It still would be fulfilled but under different circumstances. Short: A monkey's paw. A wish for money would kill someone else and give his money to you. A wish for eternal life would give you the ability to suck out the life force of others. And a wish for world peace would kill everybody else on the planet. All thanks to the Einzbern, who wanted to cheat and summon the Persian god of darkness.

Usually the summoned Heroic Spirits belonged to one of the seven classes: Saber, the Knight of the Sword, Lancer, the Knight of the Spear, Archer, the Knight of the Bow, Rider, the Mounted Knight, Caster, the magus, Assassin, the silent killer and Berserker, the mad warrior. But they didn't want something normal, so they created the new class Avenger to summon Angra Mainyu. In that they succeeded. But that was where the good results stopped. Even though Avenger was indeed Angra Mainyu, he wasn't a god, just a normal human who took the name of all evil after his name was expelled from the Avesta, the book of creation. In competition against other famous heroes with abilities far surpassing human imagination he was the first to fall.

But that's not where it stopped. Unknown to everyone Angra Mainyu, who in his life had been forced to take on the burden of all the evil of mankind, became "All the Worlds Evil". And after a Servant was defeated they would be gathered inside the Holy Grail, which would be able to fulfill a wish with the energy it received from the defeated Servants. But now it happened that "All the Worlds Evil" was put into a wish granting device, turning a sacred artifact into a foul Monkey's Paw.

Sixty years after the third war the fourth started. Angra Mainyu amused himself with the struggle for the Holy Grail, knowing very well, no one would get exactly what they wanted. But the fourth war didn't exactly ended with a victor. After hearing just what was in front of him Emiya Kiritsugu, one of the participants, destroyed it. And then when the next Holy Grail War started earlier than expected it was his adopted son, who did it.

The second time should have destroyed him completely, but let's just say he had some privileges. Namely the True Magic. Everyone knew that the Holy Grail War had something to do with the third True Magic, heck, the ritual was called after it: "Heaven's Feel", the materialization of the soul, entailing the reanimation of the dead without negative consequences. Yes, that's how powerful Magic really is compared to your everyday magecraft. The first "Denial of Nothingness" lets you create matter out of nothing, the fourth "Oblivion" can erase the existence of something itself. And the fifth "Blue Magic" gives you power to control time.

And that was exactly what he used to get out of this predicament. He traveled back into time, back to the point he was defeated and put into the Holy Grail in the third Grail War. Then he lived the fourth and fifth Grail War again until he got defeated and turned time back yet once again. And again and again. But reliving it for infinite number of times wasn't really fun, so he decided to stack things up a bit by changing the summoned Servants. But since a lot of the Master used catalysts, it was hard to summon someone different.

A catalyst was something that had ties towards a Heroic Spirit. It could be weapons they used in life, parts of their clothes or carriages, sometimes even locations. Using that in the summoning ritual increased your chances drastically to get a specific Heroic Spirit. Something like "part of the round table" corresponded to more than one Heroic Spirit and you would most likely get someone who had a similar personality as the summoner. But most of the used catalysts more or less had strong ties towards the specific Heroic Spirit that made it nearly impossible to summon something different. Furthermore, all together could only summon a Heroic Spirit for every class, reducing the numbers of different Servant constellations even further.

That was when Angra Mainyu suddenly got a brilliant idea: Search for places, where the specific catalyst doesn't had any history! In other words: The second Magic "Kaleidoscope", the operation on parallel worlds. That's right, looking into a parallel world allowed him to ignore most ties the catalyst had towards Heroic Spirits in this world, allowing for a greater varieties of Heroic Spirits to be summoned.

However, that alone was not enough. Some catalysts, especially Avalon the scabbard of Excalibur, had so strong ties to King Arthur that they could be summoned over multiverses away. So he first had to use the third Magic, the materialization of the soul, to anchor the souls of the particular Heroic Spirits to the Throne of Heroes. Only using the second and third together, he finally managed to summon heroes from different parallel worlds.

And so it was time again that the Masters selected in the fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War would get different Servants than what they expected!

* * *

A/N:

Hey guys and gals, Gashadokuro here.

I've read a lot of fanfictions out there and then decided to make my own. As I already said and as everybody who had read "Fate Zero Sense" by "The Infamous Man" can tell, this story was inspired by him. The settings of the Fate series makes one of the best choices for a battle between characters from different other stories. So it isn't surprising that after the great success of the first story a lot of other people decided to try their hands at this. I, too, was one of them and decided to "quickly" write a story with the characters I wanted to participate. A fair word of warning: I know that I am not the best fanfiction writer out there – seriously, don't you just love euphemism?! – and I have particularly problems with characterizations of people, so there's bound to be some OOC. But I hope I still have managed to write some interesting interaction between the characters.

Now regarding this chapter: I wanted some other reason for Angra Mainyu to switch the Servants than him being bored. Granted, the spark that gets this story started is his boredom, but only after he had to witness the same development countless times, since I think we all agree that the original Fate Zero was anything else than boring. At last anybody who has seen it. And since he already had the third and this story needs the second, why not make it so that the proximity to the wish-granting device gave him limited usage of the five True Magics? That of course meant that I had to give every Magic a name and domain. It was already known that the fifth contained time travel, so the most logical choice would be time control. Although I doubt it is actually so easy.

The fourth was the one nobody knows anything about it as it "concealed itself". So I concluded that it most likely something that either could manipulate memories – or was so dangerous that the creator choose to hide it himself. And thus Oblivion was born. And I don't mean the place were the memories vanish to. No, it is an ability that was created as someone tried to open a portal to the Root by erasing someone's existence and thus access the Records of Akasha. It didn't work though, but he still had one heck of a dangerous ability that he decided to keep under wraps.

If you want to help me you can leave a review and tell me a) what you like about this story (to motivate me) or b) what doesn't make sense and why (to make me become a better writer). Even if this story is already ten years old and/or finished, any pointers can help me and if not for this story, then for my next.

If you do not want to openly review you can still PM me or leave an anonymous review. Though to the latter I can only reply to when I publish my next chapter.

That said I hope you enjoy this story and if you are still interested, the next chapter with the introductions of the first heroes is already up.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	2. Chapter 1: The First Servants

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 1: The First Servants

Kotomine Kirei didn't knew why the Holy Grail had chosen him as a Master. He didn't have a wish and so he couldn't just understand why he would receive the three Command Seals, resembling some sort of leaf on his hand, the prove that he indeed was a Master. But as it appeared it really was like he didn't need to have a wish to be selected for the position of Master.

When three years earlier the Command Seals appeared, he had a conversation with his father, Kotomine Risei and Tohsaka Tokiomi, another Master in the fourth Fuyuki Grail War. As he had been a member of one of the three families which created the ritual in the first place it was nearly certain he would be chosen as the Master. The other two families being the Einzbern and the Makiri, who were called Matou nowadays.

But the other two families had long forgotten the real reason for the ritual in the first place: To reach Akasha, the Root, the place were souls originate from and go back after their death. Tokiomi was the only one remembering their goal and thus was determined to not let anyone else have the Grail. The Church, Risei and Kirei belonged to, just not wanted an artifact with powerful wish-granting abilities to fall into the wrong hands and thus Tokiomi and Kirei formed a contract. He, Kirei, would summon a heroic spirit and help Tokiomi reach his goal.

For that he was to summon Assassin, since Tokiomi had a catalyst with ties to Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk, the first hero and the strongest Servant. Tokiomi was certain that the only other Servant that would be dangerous to them would be Assassin, since he didn't specialized in fighting the Servant, but rather attacking and killing the Master when their guard was down. So summoning Assassin would take out their greatest threat and add a skilled information gatherer to their side. Together with Gilgamesh they were nearly certain to win this Holy Grail War.

But it would only work, if the others thought they were enemies. That was why he was ordered to summon his Servant before Tokiomi, since it would be suspicious, if they both received their Servant at the same time. For that purpose Kirei was standing here, to his feet on the floor a symbol made out of blood, the summoning circle. He inhaled and then began to chant the aria for the summoning of the Servant:

„_A Base of Silver and Steel._

_A foundation of stone and the Archduke of Contracts._

_And my ancestor, my great Master, Schweineorg._

_A wall to block the falling wind._

_The gates of all four directions close._

_From the Crown, come fourth and follow the forked road to the Kingdom._

_Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill._

_Fill Five times._

_But destroy each when filled_

_I hereby propose!_

_Thou shalt come under my command, and thy sword shalt control my fate._

_Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail, if thou accedest to this will and reason, answer me._

_I hereby swear._

_I am all that is good in the eternal world._

_I am the disposer of evil in the eternal world._

_Thou, clad with the Great Trinity, come fourth from the circle of constraint._

_Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!_"

The summoning circle glowed in a white-bluish light that suddenly expanded and engulfed the whole room. When the light died down, inside the summoning circle stood a person. The first thing to notice about him was, you could hardly see anything about him except that he was rather young for an "Old Man of the Mountain". He wore a dark green jacket with a hood and underneath that a black sweater with such a big collar that it effectively covered half of his face. Together with the hood, black glasses and a headband with a metal plate where the kanji for "shinobi", was inscribed, you nearly couldn't see anything of his face except it was light-skinned. Additionally he wore black pants and shoes with open fronts so you could see his toes with no socks. Instead he had white bandages tied around the part of his legs between pants and shoes.

At the same time Kirei studied the newcomer, the newcomer studied him. Then he spoke with a deep tone of voice complete devoid of emotion:

"I have answered to the summon of the Holy Grail. And you are my Master. Why? Because there is no one else in this room and I can feel the connection towards your Command Spells. And I don't need to tell you that I am Assassin. Why? Because you wanted to summon an Assassin. How I know that? Because it is rather early for a summoning and Assassin is one of the only two classes, where the Master can set the class from the beginning." At once Kirei understood he had summoned a rather perceptive individual.

"Indeed", he agreed. "I am Kotomine Kirei, your Master."

"With that the contract is finished. I am awaiting your orders, Master."

"For now I would like to confirm, are you indeed Hassan-I-Sabah, the Old Man of the Mountain?"

"No, I am not. Although I am an assassin, I don't belong to that group of the middle east. I am a shinobi." A shinobi, just as his headband told, in other words: a ninja. A group of Japanese shadow warriors. Like the al-Assasin they fought in the shadows doing dirty work, although the al-Assassin did this out of religious beliefs while the ninja did it under the orders of their lord. But as the shinobi were Japanese origin and the Holy Grail War was occurring in Japan, Assassin would get a slight boost from the legends around this place, since a Heroic Spirit was always stronger, the stronger the legends of them. But usually the summoned Heroic Spirit of the Assassin-class would be Hassan-I-Sabbah, since he was the origin for the word Assassin. Why did the Holy Grail twisted the rules just to make his Servant stronger? Did it wanted him to win that badly? But why? He didn't have a wish! At last Tokiomi would be delighted to hear about this event.

* * *

Tokiomi was indeed happy about the turnout of events. Not just had Kotomine successfully summoned a Heroic Spirit, but also someone with a home advantage as well. The Command Seals in shape of a ring with three lines at each side, connected by an arc to every ring each, had already been expected. He was, after all, the most competent magus in the Tohsaka family, not to say the only one of the bloodline of age. So, all was well. That was until he summoned his own Heroic Spirit a week later. Even though he had used the shed skin of the first snake, the summoned Servant wasn't the great king Gilgamesh, except if the King of Heroes was a teenage boy with white hair and red eyes. He looked more like an Einzbern-homunculus than a king. He wore a white jersey with black stripes and gray trousers and around his head there was some kind of choker that was connected to his ears by earphones. But what was the most unsettling was the crutch he held in his right hand. That was a Heroic Spirit summoned at the peak of his power?! The Heroic Spirit in question just looked at him bored and then only said one word:

"Tch."

* * *

Matou Zouken was surprised as well. He actually prepared for his son a piece of the round table so that he would summon a knight. Maybe Mordred or Lancelot, since he had his son add to lines to the summoning ritual so he would summon a Berserker to make up for his low prana.

At last that was what he told him. In truth he just liked to see his son suffer. Matou Kariya who angered him by turned away from the path of a magus and only came back after he heard that one of the girls he was found of would receive training in his stead. Tohsaka Sakura was given to him from her father Tokiomi so that both of his children could be trained in the art of thaumaturgy and won't had to fight over the family crest when they got older. As Kariya turned away from the path of a magus, he couldn't understand that reason and had decided to take Sakura's place.

Actually he expected Kariya to die from the pain as he offered his body to the crest worms. But he didn't. Instead he just lost his left eye and wasn't able to use his left leg perfectly anymore. But he pulled through and the appearing Command Seals in the shape of a manji symbol with only three arms instead of four on his hand were proof that he was selected as a Master in the Holy Grail War. Zouken didn't actually thought, he would be able to win the Holy Grail War and give him the Grail so that he would be able to wish for immortality. But on the other hand there was at last a little chance and if he really managed it, he had no use for Sakura anymore.

For now he would take delight in the painful struggle of his son. Or he would have, if he wasn't that surprised of the appearance of the Servant. It wasn't a knight, it didn't even looked human. Actually it looked like the Minotaur. It had a human body who wasn't just light-skinned but completely white. His head looked like a human skull with horns of a bull, yellow eyes and long orange hair. He wore a ragged black shroud which covered the necessary parts only barely, his chest completely exposed. It also showed something that made it clear, he wasn't human. A giant hole. Yes. In the centre of the chest was a giant hole. A regular human couldn't just live with a giant hole in his chest and Servants weren't summoned as if they were on their death-bed. Now one could say that Kariya might be to weak to summon a Heroic Spirit at his full power, but the way the Servant stood made it clear, this hole wasn't something that hindered him.

"Well, well, it seemed like you were indeed able to summon a Heroic Spirit", Zouken said. "Although it looks like it isn't a knight of the round table! I don't know if I should be proud or disappointed."

"█▄▀█▄▀▀█", the Servant roared and within the blink of an eye he summoned a black katana, crossed the short distance between them and slashed at the old man, cutting him in half.

"Now, now", Zouken said, still halved. "Can't you even keep your Servant in the line?"

"Enough, Berserker!", Kariya ordered and the Servant stopped. "Return to spirit form." As soon as he said that, the Servant faded into nothing.

"Well, at last it looks like you summoned a strong Heroic Spirit. Now go and bring me the Grail! After all, that's what we agreed on, right?!"

* * *

Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel von Einzbern got a surprise as well. Instead of the King of Knights, Arthur Pendragon there stood a small boy with a black jacket, trousers and white sneakers. He had brown eyes hidden behind round glasses and short brown hair, with the particularity that his hair was dark brown at the bottom half. There was no doubt, he wasn't Arthur, since he had the appearance of a normal child from the modern age. The question now was, why was this one summoned instead of him and why was he so young.

"Good Evening", the Servant greeted while politely bowing down so that his waist was in a right-angle towards the rest of his body, "I am the Servant Saber. I've come forth to the summoning of the Holy Grail. Am I right with the assumption that you are my Master?"

"I am", Kiritsugu answered, clearly feeling the connection to the boy over his Command Seal in the shape of a sword accompanied by flowers, "but just to be clear, you aren't Arthur Pendragon?" The boy was taken aback at that.

"No, no, I am not someone fancy like that", he denied while waving his arms amplifying around. "I am just a normal student. Well, for the most part." For the most part?

"How come someone as young as you is a Heroic Spirit?", Irisviel wanted to know. He scratched the back of his head.

"Well, there were some guys rampaging inside my clan's territory and I couldn't just let them do whatever they wanted." Territory? Was he some kind of Yakuza?

"Then what's your name?", Kiritsugu asked. The boy shook his head.

"I don't think you have ever heard of it, so it wouldn't be useful in any way. So I rather would want to keep it a secret until the time is right."

"Very well", Kiritsugu gave in. It was not like he could force him to reveal his name, without the use of a Command Seal and those were way too valuable to waste for something like that. "But please tell me, what is your wish from the Grail?" That was always the most important question after summoning a Servant. After all, what would happen if your Servant had a wish that contradicted with yours? Finding out about that after already obtaining the Grail was too late.

Saber sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"There is this one person that I killed… I want to bring her back."

"Your girlfriend?", Irisviel asked eagerly, making Saber blush.

"What? No, no, she was an enemy!"

"A forbidden love!", she happily shouted, making Saber blush deepen.

"Oh, your blushing, how cute!", she squealed and embraced him with a hug, swinging him around. "I just want to take you home with me!"

"We are already at your home", Kiritsugu felt obliged to point out, while Saber tried to get out of the suffocating embrace.

"Besides", he said, after finally managing the impossible, "she is even older than my grandfather. And what was your wish, by the way?" Quickly he tried to change the topic to something else.

"World peace", Kiritsugu answered clear without inhibition in the same voice as before.

"World peace?", Saber repeated. "I like that! Count me in." Perhaps it wasn't so bad that he didn't get the King of Knights, after all. But Old Man Acht would surely disappointed that the catalyst had been a fake.

* * *

Waver Velvet was the next one to get the surprise. Although his wasn't as big the others as this catalyst wasn't something he got for himself. He just stole it from Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. This guy ridiculed him in front of the entire class, saying that his theory that a magus could become strong through hard work instead of just the heritage, were juvenile fantasies. So when he heard about the Holy Grail War, he was thrilled. A battle were only your own talent counted and not your ancestors. And as an added bonus he had been at the right time in the right place and managed to get a catalyst who was supposed to go to Kayneth. A piece of the mantle belonging to the great "King of Conquerors", commonly known as Alexander the Great. That meant that he would be able to summon a strong Servant and still get revenge on El-Melloi.

At last that was the plan. But he couldn't imaging the person in front of him being that legendary king. Could it be that the catalyst had been a fraud? First, nowhere there was even a shred of red visible in the clothes, yet the mantle. And second this person in front of him was a girl. She was smaller than him and had long golden hair like a princess and even a crown and a dress. Although there stopped the similarities. The dress was black, the crown was made out of spikes and she wore black gauntlets with claws. Furthermore she had black boots made out of metal going over her knees and stopped direct under her short white skirt showing under her black dress. At the bottom of the boots were big black appendages with gold wheels and spikes. That would make the girl a Rider-class Servant, but he had never heard of a Heroic Spirit like that.

But the real surprise came, when the girl finished to examine him with her yellow eyes with a circular pattern and promptly raced towards him. Before he could retaliate at what seemed a sudden attack, she swung her arms around his body, hugging him. Thanks to her speed Waver couldn't stop himself from falling and with a heavy sound he slammed onto the ground.

"Wa-?" For a moment his though process stopped completely. In his 19 years of life Waver Velvet never did have a girlfriend. He had been to busy with studying and a lot of magi in his class didn't thought about romantic relationships before a certain age and a lot of magi would later engage in political marriages. So he also had never had been so close with a girl before. Furthermore she was _definitely_ younger than him, maybe fourteen at most and he half expected someone to walk in on them and accuse him of child molesting.

"Ehm, hi!", he tried to start a conversation. The moment he spoke her eyes flickered towards him, looking at him with curiosity. "I am Waver Velvet. Are you my Servant?" The girl happily nodded. "And your class in Rider?" She nodded again. "Well then…" He didn't knew what else to say. "Aren't you going to go into spirit form?" Now the girl shook her head and looked a little bit hurt at that. "But if you don't go into spirit form the people are going to question your appearance and every enemy Master would know that you are a Servant and I am your Master." Now she let go of him for the first time and stood straight. Waver was baffled, how someone with wheels for his feet could do something like that, when suddenly her black gear including her crown started to glow. Then her crown transformed into a ribbon tying her hair, her dress and the gauntlets turned yellow and transformed into a blouse, her skirt got blue and her wheels transformed into a wheelchair. Now she was beaming at him, looking really proud of herself.

"Well, that will work", he admitted and then began to push her towards his current place of residence. After all, there is probably nobody who would think a girl in a wheelchair is a Servant.

Some miles away in the Tohsaka mansion, a certain white-haired Servant started to sneeze.

"So, what am I going to tell the MacKenzie's?", Waver mused and then began to explain: "The MacKenzie's are the old couple I live with. I kind of used hypnosis to make them believe I am their grandson since I had to stay for the duration of the Holy Grail War somewhere. Of course I could hypnotize them again, but before I can do that I first have to have some base to go on. So what to say?" He brooded for a moment. He couldn't pose her as a family member even if he used hypnosis opposite to him since they actually had a grandson and he just made them believe that he was him. So that was out of question. Furthermore, he just told them the chickens, which now were dead since he used their blood for the summoning circle, were from a friend who was on trip and came back today. So he couldn't say that he was keeping watch over his little sister while he was on a trip. Although her appearance combined with the chickens are too perfectly timed to shrug off as a coincidence it didn't was.

"I am going to tell them that when I brought the chickens back to my friend he told me that his friend had to go away for an undermined amount of time and couldn't take his little sister – in other words you – with him and begged my friend to take care of you. But he himself couldn't care for you and thus asked me to do it, alright?!" She pondered for a moment and then happily nodded. "Good. Then all we need now is a name for you. At best a Japanese one, looking at your features. Hmm, how about…"

'…Kagari Izuriha.' Waver stopped abruptly when he heard an echoing voice inside his head. Did she just said something?! Inside his mind?! But if she was able to do that, why didn't she said anything up until now? When he asked her on this matter her answer was simply:

'No reason.' Waver rubbed his temples. So she wouldn't say anything until it was absolutely necessary?

"So, Kagari was it? Is that your real name?" For a moment she was silent. He wondered, if he said something wrong, since she didn't respond, when he noticed her lost in thought. Then suddenly she shook her head. Waver sweat-dropped. Did she just had to ponder about her own name?! What kind of idiot forgets his own name?!

And again the white-haired Servant had to sneeze. What was that today with him. Could it be that the years without the need for an immunity system had finally caught up to him. He hoped not, since the Holy Grail War was way to important for him to lose because of a cold.

* * *

But the one who had the most problems adjusting to the new circumstances was a certain Euryphis lecturer in the department of Spiritual Evocation. His name was Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald and he had one of the worst weeks in his life. First someone had stolen the catalyst which he had been spending a lot of time and connections to get for the current Holy Grail War.

As he was a prodigy from a long line of magi with two elements, there were no worries about the other Master. The only one capable of matching him was Tohsaka Tokiomi. The Matou-line was dying out, the Einzbern specialized in alchemy and not combat and the rest of the random Master weren't going to be a threat. So, the only uncertainties were the Servants. And for that he had used his connections to achieve said catalyst, since with a strong Heroic Spirit there was no doubt, he would prevail.

But then the theft happened. Oh, he had no delusions about just who stole his Holy Relic. His name was Waver Velvet. He stood out in that just before he committed the theft, he had giving Kayneth a script of an absurd theory. He of course had to tell him, just how wrong his childish fantasies were and bring him back to reality, before he would loosen himself completely. It was his duty as a teacher after all.

But Waver didn't take his advice to heart but stole the carefully prepared relict instead and hit it in his outrage. Just to spite him. Of course he didn't appear at the clock tower anymore or Kayneth could have helped him overcome his silly behavior. But in the end Kayneth had to get another catalyst using more money and connections. But as the head of the Archibald family these weren't so hard to come by. Instead of Iskander the Great, he would summon Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, the first warrior of the knights of Fianna.

Although somehow the authenticity of the catalyst had to be flawed since in front of him the summoned person standing in the same room with him and his wife Sola-Ui was clearly not Celtic origins, but Asian. Furthermore he wore a white overcoat with blue cuffs and underneath a black pullover. Together with blue trousers and white boots with metal kneepads. Around the neck he wore a red pendant. Oh, and his hair was silver. There was one thing, Kayneth was certain: This guy was not Diarmuid.

"Who are you? And what did you do to Diarmuid Ua Duibhne?!" The summoned Servant frowned at that.

"Dia-what? Sorry, I don't know anybody with that name. Wait, now I do, but I am not him. I am Servant Lancer. And you are my Master, correct?" So, Lancer. Not did he didn't receive the Servant he wanted, but he also didn't get the Saber-class. He tried to calm himself by saying that at last he got one of the three knight-classes.

"Well then, if you aren't Diarmuid, then who are you?", his wife asked.

"Sorry, that's something I want to keep to myself." Kayneth was surprised. So he didn't wanted to tell his name? Well, he didn't have a choice.

"As your Master I order you, to reveal your name!", Kayneth commanded, but all it did was making Lancer snort.

"Nice try", he said and pointed at a ring of three tomoe and two lances to each site on the magus hand that should have shown Kayneth authority over him, "but without the use of one of those that won't work." Kayneth was taken aback. What did he say?

"I am your Master! Do you want to defy me?!" He nearly shouted faced with such rebellion. Lancer just sighed.

"Alright, Master, here's the deal: Knowing my name wouldn't help you in any way. You probably wouldn't even recognize it. And if you did, it would be just more of a reason to keep you from knowing. So, if you really want to waste a Command Seal for that, go ahead!" For the first time in his life Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald didn't knew what to say. But in his stead Sola-Ui took the initiative.

"If it really don't matter for the fight, let's just let him keep his secret, Kayneth."

"Well, you are right", Kayneth admitted. "If it really isn't going to effect your performance I think I can allow it."

"Great! Then I have a question! Why can I feel the Command Seals from you, but the mana supply comes from her?!"

"Ah, there you experience one of my master pieces", Kayneth exclaimed proud. "I have altered the usual Master-Servant contract, so that I would be your Master, but my wife would be the one supplying you with mana. The way I can fight, too, without worrying about your mana." Lancer nodded approving.

"Nice idea. Although I doubt you are going to be of much use against Servants."

"Of course not. I shall engage the Master."

"Good. Then do you have any place, where I can set up my workshop?" For the second time in his life Kayneth was taken aback.

"Workshop?!"

"Huh? You haven't already looked up my skill set?! I have **Territory Creation** A+!"

* * *

Hey guys and gals.

Now we have Assassin, Archer, Berserker, Saber, Rider and Lancer, basically everyone except Caster with the same Master as in canon. Now though, I don't think there is anybody who won't figure out, Assassin's and Berserker's identity and Rider's is clear, too, if you look for her, but I couldn't find a way for her to get any other name for her civil form. Saber is someone who has a good reason for disclosing his identity, as have Lancer and Assassin, well, the letter is doing it out of professionalism.

Lancer himself is special in the way, that he clearly would into for a lot of different classes, like Saber and Berserker, but just like Heracles isn't able to use "Hundred Shooting Heads", while he is a Berserker, Lancer won't be able to use his Noble Phantasm suited to the Saber-Class, while he is a Lancer.

Berserker this time is actually a _Berserk_er. A hero summoned at the moment of his greatest mental disruption. That was one of the things, I often wondered about. Although I am not too averse against a lucid Berserker, as Type Moon has already shown us Kintoki, and, if my information are correct, Frankenstein's Monster, nobody ever seems to support the idea of a berserk Berserker.

Archer fits to his class as good as Gilgamesh, Assassin speaks for himself and Saber executes a lot of his techniques with his sword that is one of his Noble Phantasm.

So, all in all, I think I am consent with the classes the Servants were summoned in and I hope, that when this story is finished, at last one Servant wasn't found out right away.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	3. Chapter 2: Starting the War

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 2: Starting the War

Uryuu Ryuunosuke was working on his newest experiment. When he found that old book on the occult in the old storehouse he couldn't believe his eyes. With all the murders he did, it did got dull after a while, so a book on demon summoning was exactly what he needed! Although there had never been a demon to appear, the ritual itself was, what gave him a new drive. Now he had broken into a household of four people and killed everyone except the grade school boy and used their blood to draw the symbol on the floor. Then he started his chant:

"Fill, fill, fill, fill. With each repetition, four times― eh, five times? Err, only when it's full, break it up... Is it? Yeah." He stopped for a moment.

"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill, there. That's five times alright. Okay?" He turned around towards the shivering kid he tied up and gagged.

"Say― boy, do you believe in demons? You know, newspapers and magazines keep calling me a demon. But ain't it weird? A single stick of dynamite would do more victims at once than me. Nah, it's fine. I'm kind of a demon. But if there were real demons beside me, I'd like to try to talk a little with them. Now that'd be nice. Anyway. If by any chance, a demon really comes out, wouldn't it be stupid to not have anything to drink and chat? So, boy... If Mr. Demon here does pay me a visit, how about you let him kill yourself?!" The kid struggled even more intense and Ryuunosuke started laughing.

"I wonder how it is to be killed by a demon. Will it go zip or splash, that gotta be some fun to watch. Not something you see everyday― ah ouch!" An unexpected sting made itself known at his right hand, stopping him in his tracks. Somehow a pattern like a tattoo appeared, looking like three intertwined snakes. Suddenly the pattern he painted on the ground with the blood of his victims started to glow and lightning covered the ground. Then with a great wind a person appeared in the middle of it. It was a woman of a fairly large build, with black, dotted snake tattoos winding down either arms. She had eyes with yellow irises and black pupils, and yellow hair she with two strands she braided together in front of her chest. She wore a black body-length suit extending down to her knees with a hood with two big white eyes painted on them. She studied Ryuunosuke from head to toe.

"So, you are supposed to be my Master? What a letdown!" Ryuunosuke didn't know what to say, so he tried it with a simple introduction.

"Uh, name's Uryuu Ryuunosuke. I am currently unemployed. I like murder in general. Especially kids." Actually he liked killing woman nearly as much, but it did appeared him to be a little bit tactless to mention that in front of her. For a moment she looked at him stunned, then she started to chuckle lightly.

"Oh, you are an interesting fellow", she admitted. Then her gaze fell upon the child on the floor.

"And what's that?", she asked him.

"Right", Ryuunosuke regained his bearings, "let's talk over a drink. Are you going to eat that?" The woman looked at the child. Her expression turned sinister.

"Oh, even though you aren't that competent as a Master, you at last provided me with the means to regain my power. Very well, I accept." She bent down towards the frightened child and took away the gag. Before the boy could even make on sound she transformed into a black snake with yellow arrows and made her way down the boys throat. Ryuunosuke was frozen by the display as black arrows streamed out of the kids body destroying the ropes. When the kid stood up, it had changed its appearance into something, you could only call a chibi-version of the women.

"That is going to suffice for now", the child said, with the voice of the woman. Suddenly Ryuunosuke couldn't help himself. He got down on his knees and grabbed the hand of the women-turned-child.

"Coooool! That's wicked! Man, that was super cool!", he exclaimed with great joy. "I don't know exactly what is going on, but I'll follow you! Just show me more of your cool killings!" Since she was now so small she had to look up towards him.

"Well, that can be arranged. I need to devour a lot, so I can finally use my powers wholly again."

"Ah―, right, I didn't get to hear your name." Remembering about the important parts, Ryuunosuke started acting more familiarly.

"My name? Well, for the duration of this Heaven's Feel you should call me Caster."

* * *

"It is time!", Kotomine Kirei told Assassin. "The last Servant was summoned. Now go and kill Tohsaka Tokiomi."

"What about Archer?", the Servant asked.

"They have **Independent Action**. So if you notice an opportunity, kill him, too."

"Understood!", he said, making his way towards the Tohsaka compound. Silently he maneuvered past the magical defenses, when suddenly:

"What a drag, can't I just get some sleep?" In front of him stood Archer. With his crutch. Not exactly the most intimidating sight, although Assassin knew not to underestimate his opponent. "Why the hell do I have to keep up with that?! Oi, you, how about you disappear and we forget the whole thing?" Instead of answering Assassin threw some funny shaped daggers at him, which he casually side-stepped. But his moment of unwariness Assassin used to close in on him and deliver a swipe with a dagger at his neck. But instead of opening the skin and drawing blood, it broke in half and Assassin's arm snapped back in an unnatural manner. Before Assassin could register what happened, Archer took a swing with his left hand, took Assassin's head and pressed it against the ground. Suddenly a shockwave beginning by Archer passes through the ground of the whole garden ripping apart the surface, destroying hedges, flower beds and fountains. Together with the body of Assassin.

With that Archer straightened himself and walked back towards the house.

"Now, let's hope that was the last of them in a long time." Tokiomi was utterly shocked and Kirei completely surprised by the display of his abilities. Both had only one thought:

'And that guy's an _Archer_?!'

* * *

"Assassin― has been killed?" Waver Velvet opened his eyes. He had used rat familiars to scout out the Matou and Tohsaka mansions since they were the only locations of Master known. Except the Einzbern, but their Master didn't made an appearance, yet. But he didn't thought someone would actually made a move. Yet Assassin did and was eliminated. In the blink of an eye. By a Servant with a crutch.

Just which class was that Servant?! He didn't used a weapon like the knight classes and he was way too sane for a Berserker. Since Assassin was out of the picture and since he had Rider that guy had to be Caster. A Caster, capable of destroying his opponents with a single blow, literally. The only magi he heard of capable of doing just that to a Heroic Spirit were the sorcerers Zelretch and The Blue, capable of using True Magic.

He decided to gather more information before he would make any actions towards the Tohsaka Master. He turned towards his Servant who was sitting on a futon beside his bed and was silently watching TV. Just as he had told Rider the house they lived in right now didn't belong to him, but to the old couple called Glen and Martha MacKenzie. But as he saw her on that futon he was forced to recall the recent events. He still felt embarrassed when he remembered back to what happened, when he brought her to his current residence.

_*/flashback/*_

"Ah, so that's how it is", Martha acknowledged the story Waver had told her while Rider sat in her wheelchair beside him. "Of course we won't refuse to take care of her." Waver let out a breath he didn't knew he was holding. In hindsight he should have known that they would not care about the mysterious appearance of a girl. He didn't even had to use hypnosis for that.

"But your friends sure are irresponsibly", Glen deemed. "To always leave you with their responsibilities."

"Actually I am the one who owns them a favor", Waver "corrected", "I am the one who has to pay back his debts."

"So, that's how it is. Well then, let's get a futon for Kagari ready. I hope you have no problems sleeping in our room…" Faster than anybody could react, Rider reached over to Waver, grabbed his arm, pulled it towards her and clanged to it, as if to never let go. For a moment everybody stared silently at her, when suddenly Waver's face reddened as he finally understood the hint.

"No!", he stated firmly. "Absolutely no! It's improper for a man and a girl who aren't related to share the same bedroom! There is no way…" He stopped in his tracks when he met her eyes. She looked at him with a cold gaze that seamed to pierce right into his soul. It was easy to forget, but this girl was actually a Heroic Spirit. A person who had done so incredible feats in his life that he ascended to a realm above normal humans.

"Waver is right, Kagari", Martha agreed, "you can't sleep with him. What would your brother say, if he heard of this?" Rider didn't reacted at all and still continued to stare at her Master. Waver sighed and looked away. Then he turned towards his "grandparents".

"She just isn't accustomed yet to not have always someone at her side that she knows. Please, I promise I won't do anything improper."

"Well, I guess, we can allow it for now", Glen admitted and Waver felt relieve. This time he actually had used a little bit of hypnosis. But seriously, he was supposed to be the Master in this relationship!

_*/flashback end/*_

When he had later looked at his Servant's skills he had found a reason for her strange behavior. She had Rank D in **Mental Pollution**, which gave her a slight defense against mental attacks, additional to her high **Magic Resistance**, but at the same time resulted in a slight distorted mentality.

"Rider", he spoke to move her attention from the television towards him, "just now the first casuality happened. Assassin has been defeated." Rider expectant waited for him to go on. "Right. The Servant who defeated him was a white-haired teenage boy with a crutch. He had some ability which produced shockwaves with his punch, effectively destroying Assassin and the whole garden. I think he might be Caster." Rider looked skeptically.

"Well, who do you think it would be?!" She made a move as though she was drawing a sword.

"Saber?! But he didn't even used a sword! Or do you think his crutch is his sword?!" Now that he thought about it that wasn't to farfetched, since Rider's Wheels were hidden as a wheelchair. She nodded and then flexed her arm muscles, which he had to admit, looked actually kind of cute, since she was a petite girl and didn't had that big muscles.

"So, you mean, he did that just with his Strength?! But he had to have A+ for that!" She just looked at him blankly. He sighed.

"Alright, alright. I won't dismiss it just yet." Now she beamed at him. Waver sighed again. Being a Master was really more complicated than he would have thought. He finally understood what the Command Seals were for. He had thought that a Servant would comply to the wishes of his Master because that was the only way for him to receive the Holy Grail. But that wasn't necessarily true. Even though Heroic Spirit transcended to a level above normal humans but were themselves still human at the core. Together with all the quirks and character flaws. At last he got a quiet one. He could have gotten a bold and load Servant, chanting his name loudly around, whenever he got the chance. A tugging on his sleeve brought him out of his musings.

"What is it?", he asked Rider. She pointed towards the door. "What? You want to go out? And what then? Find some Servants and fight?!" She nodded enthusiastically.

"But we don't have enough information about our opponents yet." Now she sulked. At last she didn't used her special gaze this time. He speculated a little.

"Tell you what, why don't we go around tomorrow to familiarize ourselves with the terrain?" That shook her out of her depression and she quickly nodded. That meant there plans for tomorrow were set. He just hoped they wouldn't get ambushed, but since Assassin was out of commission they would at last know, when their was an opponent around. And even if they ran into another Servant they probably wouldn't fight to preserve the concealment of magecraft.

* * *

Some miles away, the expected visitor appeared at the Fuyuki Church on the hill of the Shinto suburb.

"Following the Heaven's Feel agreement, I, Kotomine Kirei, request the protection from the Holy Church."

"I accept. Conforming to my duty as a supervisor, I, Kotomine Risei, will guarantee your security. Come inside." To the two men who had arranged everything, this was a laughable farce, but they couldn't know if there wasn't still someone spying at the gate. Kotomine Risei feigned strictly his role of supervisor with a grave face, and invited his son, weakened by his defeat as a Master, inside the Fuyuki Church.

"I am glad it worked out", Risei said to his son.

"Father", the one in question interrupted, "there isn't anyone watching over the church?"

"No, the church is neutral ground. On top of that, the defeated ones are of no interest."

"Nevertheless we shouldn't let our guard down. Why? Because there might be Master who don't care about the rules the Church has set for this war." The one who spoke these words was the one who had been defeated and killed earlier that day. Assassin. Yet none raised an eyebrow at the appearance of the Servant who shouldn't be there.

"Has anybody watched the scene?", Risei asked.

"I believe that at last four Master have witnessed the scene. Why? Because there were four different types of familiars at the scene."

"Four?", Kirei repeated, "we are missing one. The 'spirit board' definitely indicated the arrival of seven Servants, didn't it, father?"

"Yes, without a doubt. The last one, 'Caster', arrived two days ago. As usual, the names of the Masters weren't given, but all the Servants of this Grail War must be present."

"I see."

"That can have a bunch of reasons", Assassin exclaimed. "Firstly, he just didn't supervised the Tohsaka mansion. Either because he didn't had the time and resources for that, yet, or he doesn't knew that the Tohsaka are Master. Second he is strong enough to mask his familiar even before me and my kikaichu. Thirdly he could have teamed up with another Master and so didn't had the need to send his own familiar towards the Tohsaka mansion. The last two would be, to quote a friend of mine, 'troublesome'. Why? Because one means the Master and Servant are quite skilled and the other means we have to defeat two Servants at the same time and I am most likely not able to beat them in a straight battle."

"That would be indeed bothersome", Kirei admitted. "With the King of Uruk on our side we wouldn't had to worry, even if two Servants attacked us at the same time. But with the current Archer I can't clearly estimate our chances of victory if that were to happen."

"Speaking of Archer", Assassin said, "when he destroyed my bunshin I couldn't feel him using any chakra or mana and his physical build shouldn't allow him to use such strong attacks. The only explanation I have for that is a Noble Phantasm that allows him to enhance his Strength way above human level. It would explain why he wanted me to come close to him. At the same time his skin is strong enough to break normal weapons upon contact."

"Thank you", Kirei said. "Please now follow with the supervision of the other Master and don't let yourself be exposed."

"Of course, Master", he said and then vanished.

* * *

Emiya Kiritsugu watched the reports of the battle at the Tohsaka mansion his assistant Hisau Maiya, a slender woman with short black hair and brown eyes, brought him. Opposite to the other magi, who would think using technology to aid you was heresy, he combined magecraft with technology, familiar with surveillance cameras. Even his mystic code, a weapon you create with magecraft, was a gun. Since he was the only one using them, most magi tended forgot to protect their home against electronics. Now he watched on a monitor how the Servant Assassin got killed by the other one.

"What do you make of it?", he asked her after he was finished.

"I think it is going too well", Maiya replied immediately to Kiritsugu's question, "The time lag between Assassin's materialization and the appearance of Tohsaka's Servant is too short. He was waiting for him. I could accept he might have detected an intruder in spirit form, but his opponent is an Assassin with the **Presence Concealment** ability. ... I wonder if Tohsaka wasn't aware of the invasion prior to it." Kiritsugu nodded. Having been trained by him, Maiya's conclusion was the same as Kiritsugu's. If he had wanted to deal with an intruder he could have just attacked him, where no one would have been able to see it.

"Maiya, what happened to the Master of Assassin?"

"He went to the Church last night and has requested the supervisor's protection. It is the man called Kotomine Kirei." Kotomine Kirei. The Master Kiritsugu was the most wary of. He had started a lot of different educations in the church as well as under Tohsaka Tokiomi, yet on the verge of mastering them he abandoned them and started a new one. Kiritsugu couldn't understand it. And that made him wary.

"Maiya, send a familiar to the Fuyuki Church. One will be fine for now."

"... Is it alright? The Church is an area where aggressions between Masters are prohibited."

"Unless the priest supervisor doesn't find out. Stay at a reasonable distance. Don't overdo it. He doesn't have to know." Maiya frowned at Kiritsugu's incomprehensible instructions.

"Must I observe the Church?"

"You can just make it a 'regular patrolling'. What you concentrate on must be absolutely not-discovered."

"... Yes, understood."

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

Next is the last Servant, Caster. If you write a Fate/Zero fanfiction none of the Master/Servant interactions is going to be so diverse because of the Servant character traits like Caster. First: Someone like Gilles that kills a lot of people and befriends Ryuunosuke. Second: Those that are disgusted by him and tries to get rid of him the fastest way possible. Third: Those that do not like what he is doing but still end up doing what he says, because he is their Master and they need him to get the Holy Grail or just out of respect for the rules of the Holy Grail War, like the Fate Zero Sense caster. Fourth: The pacifist that would like to get rid of him but does not because it goes against their code and instead focus on protection all the innocent from him. I have chosen the first.

So far this chapter really looks like the canon developments, but I thought it was unlikely that it would take a different turn of events. Tohsaka and Kotomine managed to fool nearly everyone in canon and the only one who found it suspicious was Kiritsugu and, well, he is Kiritsugu, enough said. So I think it is rather likely that these events would turn out that way. But I can promise you that in the next chapter I am going to introduce something new.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	4. Chapter 3: Red or White

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews!

**coronadomontes**: It's a really good idea, but I don't think she is going to do that. Not if she doesn't plan on staying around after the War. If she does though… now that would be a different matter.

**Basefan**: Usually you would be correct, but there are some circumstances that made me decide to have him behave that way. First: It wasn't a fight but staged. Second: The opponent was fake, so he had no reason to go berserk. So for him it was more an irritating thing that he wanted to be over as fast as possible. If he took the daggers at the beginning it would give his "opponent" a reason not to get close. And that's what he told Assassin to get this over with as fast as possible.

**Guest**: He really does swear more. I'll try to include that.

Chapter 3: Red or White

Akaji Akage walked through the Fuyuki park. He was a seven-year old boy with auburn hair and brown eyes. He talked with his older sister who walked left beside him. She had long black hair and blue eyes, just like her mother who was walking some steps behind them, together with his father, who looked like an older version of him. When his parents noticed him looking at them, they friendly waved towards him and he happily waved back before turning back towards his sister. But she wasn't there anymore. Terrified he looked around but now even his parents had vanished. The trees around him lost all their leaves and turned bleak.

"Mother! Father! Hana!", he cried out loud, but they didn't reappear. Frightened he ran forward, but everywhere awaited him the same scenery.

"Not a nice picture, right?" He turned around, startled by the sudden voice and in front of him…stood another him.

"Did you do that?! What do you want?!", he asked scared. His other self showed no emotion.

"Yes, I did that and I want you to do something for me. You see, right now you are dreaming. Big surprise there. But when you wake up, go upstairs into the garret. Ignore everything in the room except the old chest at the very end. Your parents weren't able to open it, but you will manage it without fail. There is an old book inside. Hide it. After the school has ended, go to the place described in the book and then follow all the other instructions."

"What are that instructions going to be?", Akage asked suspicious.

"Just a little magic ritual. Don't worry about it too much. It will all be explained in the book."

"Magic! Really?!", the boy asked enthusiastically, but then tuned down again and eyed the newcomer suspicious. "And how do I know that this magic isn't something bad?"

"Magic isn't good or bad. It's only the one using it. You can disregard this as just a weird dream, but you can trust me, you don't want, what's going to happen if you don't follow those instructions."

"Well, then what is going to happen? Have you looked into the future or what?" Instead of an answer the scenery changed again. And what he saw was…Fire. Burning buildings and people wherever he looked. Akage shut his eyes and covered his ears, but the heat and the screams of the damned never vanished. Then suddenly it was all over and he stood again in the park.

"That is, what is going to happen", his other self said. "An all-consuming fire killing every human it gets its hold on. Now decide carefully. What are you going to do?" The young boy was still shocked from what he had seen. It was only for a moment, but he had felt as if he had been in hell.

"Who are you?", he asked his duplication. For the first time his visitor smiled and it wasn't a menacing but a gentle one.

"I am a sword born out of flames, just like you." With that Akage woke up.

* * *

When he did go to school he was rather tense. Just as his visitor had told him, he had found the book in that old chest. Now he knew, it hadn't just been a simple dream, but he still couldn't decide, if he should follow the instructions depicted there. After all, one of them had been to draw a symbol made out of blood. Even though it didn't had to be human blood, it still meant he had to kill some living things. That just screamed "Black Magic"! But at the same time, he couldn't forget what the visitor prophesized him. The burning fire didn't left his memory and even though it was so short, he couldn't forget what he felt at that moment.

"Hey, what are you spacing out for?", a high voice interrupted his musing. The voice belonged to Imono Kurou, his friend. She had blond hair and used two ribbons to tie it into two braids. She wore their school uniform for girls, a white blouse and a blue skirt.

"Sorry, I have just a lot on my mind, at the moment."

"I can tell that", his other friend, Yukimi Kotarou said. He had black spiky hair and dark brown eyes and he wore a school uniform, too. His was a white shirt and blue trousers, just like Akage. "So, what is it that keeps you so busy thinking?!"

"Sorry, I can't tell, it is a really private matter!"

"What?!", Kotarou said in mock-anger. "You won't even tell your best friend?!"

"Sorry, I really can't", he apologized. "It is really private."

"I know, I know. Don't sweat it! I was just making fun. But you know, you can talk to us if you have problems, right?"

"Thanks, I will remember that."

"Attention, please", the teacher called out and everybody made their way to their desks. "Because of the recent murder cases all afternoon activities have been cancelled. Please be sure to go right home after school." Murder cases. He already had heard there had been a lot of them recently, but now he thought, what if the murder cases and his dream where somehow connected? What if he could do something to stop it? Now he had decided! He would read the book completely and if it could help, he would even do the magic ritual.

* * *

Right after school he did go to the place that was hinted at within the book. It was an abandoned warehouse. Quickly he made place for the circle depicted in the book and prepared to draw it. It was interesting to note that he didn't had to kill some animals himself. There had been enough blood for the whole circle in the fridge. That it was rather odd that the fridge in an abandoned warehouse was working, escaped his seven-year old mind. He was just glad, he didn't had to kill anything.

When he finally finished drawing the circle he took a deep breath and then looked at the paper in his hand. Apparently this ritual was supposed to bring heroes from the past back to life and those words were the key to it. Since he couldn't stand there the whole time with the (for him) rather heavy book in his hand, he had copied the verses onto a smaller paper. He concentrated a last time and then spoke:

"_It's made out of silver and iron._

_A foundation of stone and the Master of contracts,_

_Under the supervision of Clavis._

_A wall blocking the impure wind._

_Close the gates of all four directions._

_From the throne, come forth and follow the forked road to the kingdom._

_Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill!_

_Fill five times,_

_And destroy each when filled._

_I announce!_

_My will shall create your body, and your sword shall create my fate._

_As this is a summon of the Grail, if you accept my will and reason, answer me!_

_I hereby swear!_

_I know what is all good in the eternal world._

_I fight what is true evil in the eternal world._

_Bowing under the trinity in heaven,_

_Come forth from the circle of restraint, Guardian of Balance!_"

From the first syllable on it was, as if he couldn't stop himself anymore. Not once he stopped to read a word twice, not once did he stutter or spoke unclear. An odd power surged through his body, accumulating more and more. He felt it rise in his chest, urging itself to be released. Louder and louder became his words until he screamed the last one out into the world!

Pain twitched on his left hand and some kind of red tattoo appeared. It looked like a sword with two tree branches right and left on it. The branches did go around up to the palm of his hand, but they didn't connected there. Then the circle on the ground glowed in a blinding white light, forcing Akage to close his eyes so he didn't got blind.

"Well, well, looks like I've been summoned to the Grail War. I am Servant Sa…ver?! Holy shit! I've been summoned as _SAVER_! How did that happen!" Akage slowly opened his eyes. Inside the drawn circle stood now a tall young man. He had dark tanned skin, white hair and gold-brown eyes. He wore a black clergy suit with a red mantle.

"Are you okay, Mister?!", Akage asked carefully. Was this a hero from the past? He sure didn't behave like that. But right now he was more interested in this "Saver". What did that mean? The moment Akage spoke the summoned person looked first left and right and then down towards him. He looked at him with shock, his mouth wide open. Then, when he finally regained his bearings, the first thing he said was:

"Shirou?!"

* * *

"What is the problem, father?", Kirei asked Risei, who just asked to talk to him on short notice.

"We have a situation", the elderly priest answered. "The spirit board showed another summoning. Now there are eight Servants participating in this Holy Grail War."

"Eight Servants? I thought that was impossible. What class is it?" He thought the Heaven's Feel would only allow seven Heroic Spirits to be summoned. One of each classes. If you waited too long to summon your Servant it could happen that another one summoned the class you wanted first and no matter what catalyst you had, you wouldn't get your desired class but would summon another aspect of that Heroic Spirit that fit to another class. Even if all Master used the added two lines for the Berserker-class, there would only be one Berserker summoned.

So, even if someone somehow managed to work around the limited number of participants, he also had to find a way to allow two of the same class. Then he remembered: In the Third Holy Grail War, the Einzbern managed to create a new class container.

"It couldn't be…Avenger?!"

"No, it isn't. The class name is Saver." Saver. A new class he never heard of before.

"So, someone managed to create a new class container. Do you think it was the Einzbern?!"

"No, from the information I have gathered the Avenger-class was too weak to be of any use. The Einzbern wouldn't gamble with that again. Also they would know that I, the supervisor would be noticed of this and would have to take actions against the responsible Master. They wouldn't want that to happen. Since Tohsaka Tokiomi summoned Archer, out of the three families that would leave the Matou. But they are dying out and Matou Kariya only took actions to participate in the war since one year ago. That shouldn't be enough time to create a new class container. That leaves someone from the outside, which should be even more unlikely, since no one else has enough information on the Heaven's Feel."

"Could it be connected to the fact that Gilgamesh didn't got summoned even though we had prepared a catalyst beforehand? To think about it, Assassin also differs from the usual Hassan."

"As it may be, we first have to contact Tokiomi and let him know about this. Then we have to keep our eyes open and especially take a good look, what kind of Servant this _Saver_ is."

"Indeed, I wonder what kind of Heroic Spirit could be summoned as Saver."

In an alternate universe next to the core of the moon a specific Servant sitting cross-legged on some kind of throne sneezed.

"Bless you", his Master a man in his late twenties with black hair, glasses and a doctor uniform said to him, while waiting for someone to reach the place where he was and make his wish.

* * *

"How am I going to tell that my parents?", Akage muttered while he made his way home together with his "Servant". Now he realized he didn't actually thought this whole thing through. Not only didn't he went home right away after school, but he also brought a stranger to his house. Even if that stranger was supposed to be a hero from the past.

"Well", Saver said, "before you do anything else, you have to decide between two options." With that he took out a sheet of paper and read the content out loud, while at the same showing it to him:

You–––––

1\. …Revoke your right as Master and search sanctuary at the church.

2\. …Fight as a participant in the Holy Grail War.

Right, Saver told him about this so called "Holy Grail War". A battle were (usually) seven magi summoned heroes from the past and fought against each other until there was only one last one standing. It would have been good, if that had been written in the book, too.

"If I am going to fight, do I have to kill?", he wanted to know. After all, what else could "last one standing" mean? But his Servant surprised him.

"Actually, no", he answered. "You only have to defeat all other Servants. And since these guys are summoned from the dead that doesn't exactly count as killing, right? But except a few special circumstances, the Masters die much more easier than their Servants. Furthermore, a Servant who has lost its Master can form a new contract with another Master. Even if his Servant has been defeated, too."

"I see." He didn't wanted to kill people. Even if they wanted to kill him. But…

"These recent murders. Do they have to do something with this Holy Grail War?"

"Possible. If your Servant is weak you could order him to feed on humans. Nothing against a little midnight-snack for a Level Up. Although that probably wouldn't work that great with me because of my… special circumstances."

"Yeah, I remember. That usually Servants can go into something like a ghost form and that you can't. Something else I should know?"

"Yeah, in exchange for not being able to go spirit form, I got my own personally prana supply. Even though yours is helping a little, I don't exactly need a Master to continue to exist in this world. But don't worry, even though I don't need no Master to exist, I would need one to get the Holy Grail. So, no killing off the little Master." Akage ignored his particular sense of humor and concentrated on the important things.

"Right. The Holy Grail. It can really fulfill any wish?"

"That's the theory. The praxis…well, no one had yet managed to get him, so…" Saver didn't continue, but knowing what he meant, he asked the next question:

"So, it doesn't care, what kind of person gets it? What if someone, let's say wished for world destruction, it would destroy the world?"

"Yes. Theoretically of course." Akage sighed.

"Well, I can't exactly turn a blind eye on this." The fire flashed inside his mind. "I am going to fight."

"Huh, you sure about that?! You ain't the biggest Master around and this ain't no magical girls show."

"I know. But I won't exactly be the one fighting, right?! That will be you!"

"Sure, Master. So, what you gonna tell your parents?" Akage froze.

"Oh no! I still don't know!" Saver smiled and took out a new sheet of paper.

"You have now three options:

You can––––––

1\. …Tell the truth. (Not recommended 'cause the Mage's Association would kill them if they found out about that.)

2\. …Hypnotize them.

3\. …Lie your ass out of the fire." Akage just looked at his Servant dumbfounded.

"Did you prepare these beforehand?", he wanted to know. Saver laughed.

"Nope, I've got **High-Speed Writing** A+. So, Master, what's it gonna be?"

"Would it really be that bad, if we tell them the truth?"

"Well, what do you know about evil secret organizations?"

"I guess you have a point. And since I don't want to manipulate them that leaves…"

"…the third option. Don't worry, Master. I've got you covered. Just let me do the talking!" With that his clothes changed into the suit of a government official completely with tie.

"Wow! Is that magic?!"

"Really?! What gave it away?! Now shut up and bring me to the house of your parents. And look nervous when we are there." Akage didn't had to act nervous, when they finally reached the door towards his home. He _was_ nervous. As soon as Saver ringed the bell, they could hear heavy footsteps and soon enough the door opened.

"Akage, where were you, do you know how much you worried us…" Akage's mother trailed off, when she noticed Saver.

"Good evening", the Servant in question said, taking out an identification card. "Miss Akaji, I presume? I am Kotomine Amakusa. I work for the government. Can I have a word with you. It concerns your son. But we should talk inside about that." She eyed him warily, but indicated for him, to come inside. Meanwhile Akage's father had made his way towards the door, too. Saver greeted him and he greeted back.

"Hana, Akage, please stay in your room", he told his children.

'Don't tell her anything', Akage suddenly heard Saver's voice inside his head. 'I am going to keep this mental link open, so that you hear, what we are going to discuss!' Obedient Akage did what he was told, while Saver was asked to sit down at the living room table.

"Can I offer you anything, Mister Kotomine?", Miss Akaji asked politely.

"That is really forthcoming but I have to decline. Job conditions, you understand?" She nodded and sat down on the opposite side, right next to her husband.

"So", Mister Akaji began, "what can I do for the government? Or to be precise, what has my son to do with it?" He spoke calmly but the irritation was clearly visible. Saver cleared his throat.

"I won't cover it up by talking flowery, so I will come straight to the point. Your son has been marked. Literally."

"What?!" The couple couldn't believe her ears. What did he meant with 'marked'? Saver took out an envelope and took out a bunch of snapshots, showing body parts with strange red symbols. One of them, was Akage's left hand, clearly showing off the Command Seals.

"On his way home your son aroused the interest of a certain man belonging to a certain group of religious fanatics. Even though I've…dealt with the guy in question and managed to retrieve your son, this organization has still more members, who won't stop at anything until they have him and complete their sick rituals." Mister Akaji looked horrified and Miss Akaji was white as a sheet.

"What can we do?", he wanted to know.

"You? Frankly nothing. The question is, what can _we_ do! We were going to offer protection for your son. Though you won't be able to see him a long time."

"You want to take our son away?!", Miss Akaji repeated since she couldn't believe the words, he had spoken. Saver just looked at her calmly.

"I think we all can agree, that it is better than the alternative." Now it was Mister Akaji's turn again.

"Why don't you just take us all in for protection?!"

"Because you aren't targets. We don't have the resources to look after people, who didn't got their attention."

"Then how long do you expect yourself to take care of him?! Until you have taken care of the whole organization?!"

"Actually no. Or rather, it depends on what comes first. We have information on victims who were declared taboo by the organization after seven months after their marking has passed. It seems that someone who escaped them for that period of time would be off-limits. So, to be sure, we would take care of him for eight months and after that we would bring him back to you. But of course, the final decision lies with his guardians." With that he looked expectant at the parents, which child he was about to take away.

"Can we talk to our son about that?", she asked. Eight Month. Could they really bear not to see her son for eight month?!

"Of course. Take your time. This isn't a decision to make lightly."

* * *

"Do you really have to go, Akage?", his sister asked him on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry, Hana, but it is really for the best." After some family talk they had decided to let Akage go with Saver. Even though he felt uncomfortable to lie to his family like that, it was really for their best.

"So, do you have anything?", Saver asked, still as Kotomine Amakusa.

"Yes", Akage answered, pulling a trunk after him.

"Good", he said and took his belongings out of his hand. "I'll be waiting outside. Goodbye, Mister and Miss Akaji."

"Please, look after our son", Akage's mother pleaded.

"Of course. I am a professional." With that he walked through the door, waiting for Akage to see off his parents. One last final goodbye, and they were off. Akage sighed, as his home got smaller and smaller.

"You know, it's the only option", his Servant said and Akage sighed again.

"I know, but it doesn't make it easier."

"Well, all you have to do is win the Heaven's Feel as quickly as possible and tata…you can go back to your mommy!"

"By the way, why seven month?"

"Because seven years would probably be too long for your parents to accept and seven weeks were too short, so they might get suspicious. Now we have eight months to finish the Heaven's Feel." Suddenly Saver stopped. "Wait for a moment, will ya? I'm getting a call." Akage wondered what happened now, but decided to be quiet for a moment.

'So, what do you want?', Saver thought inside his mind. 'You usually keep to yourself, so what happened now?!'

'You know, he is going to die?', another voice piped up within his mind space. Saver frowned.

'What do you mean?!'

'Exactly what I said. He is way too young, knows nothing about magecraft and doesn't even has the right mind-set for a Master of the Holy Grail War. Even with you here, he won't survive long enough for your book to finally take effect, even if it works, which isn't that likely either.'

'And what do you want to do against that? Teach him?!' The silence was answer enough.

'Hmm… that might actually work… oj, you recon you can teach him that while he has the element "Sword"?'

'Why would you chose Sword? I know that Fire is called "normal" but why would you decide to give him Sword when you could make him an average one?'

'Because Sword is too special to be compatible with any other element. And I know what someone with the combined element and origin of Sword can accomplish. Besides, there is already one magus with all five elements in Fuyuki City."

'So, you plan on changing his Origin, too? Curious. Hmm… I won't be able to teach him everything, but enough to make him survive this Heaven's Feel. Though I would have preferred to give him a Void Alignment.'

"Oj, Shirou", Saver turned towards his Master. The person in question pouted.

"I am not Shirou! I've told you my name is Akage!"

"Yeah, whatever. So, what do you say about learning a little magic?!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

So, Saver and Shirou. Normally there would be no way Shirou – here I've given him the name Akaji Akage – would summon a Heroic Spirit in the fourth Holy Grail War. He just doesn't have enough mana capacity to support a Servant, at last not without special circumstances, namely Saver's special ability. And to the why he would summon a Heroic Spirit in the first place… I think some of you might have an idea about who would be able to do something like that and that might lead you to clues about Saver's identity, but it isn't really necessary for you to read this story.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	5. Chapter 4: Volquart Weissbach

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews! You still are going to have to keep up with one more chapter, before the plot is going to commence again.

**Coronadomontes**: I try my best. My greatest fear currently is that I won't be making this development live up to its potential. And I have to admit, I didn't actually had started this story with a sequel in mind, even though it wouldn't be that unlikely, thanks to canon Fate Stay Night.

**Lioncousin**: I think I have given enough clues for that question to be answered in the last chapter.

Chapter 4: Volquart Weissbach

Three Days Earlier:

Chadwick Dashwood was a tall young man with brown hair. Like most other magi in England he was living at the Clock Tower. But he was on of the few of the only group of students had who witnessed, how Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald humiliated the student called Waver Velvet in front of the whole class, namely the class he had been attending. Chadwick actually had been interested in the manuscript he wrote. Not that he believed the content of course, but he had wanted to know, what kind of arguments Waver would use, to justify his theory.

That changed of course, after he heard of Waver's theft. Only a sore loser would retaliate with such a common crime and it showed to everyone that he actually didn't have any convincing facts and really was only fantasizing.

Chadwick stopped with his reflections, when he reached his destination. He knocked on the wooden door and soon enough it was opened from the inside. In front of him stood another man. The most striking feature, was his black blindfold he wore, fitting to the black suit and his black hair. And ironically he was called Weissbach, Volquart Weissbach. He was a researcher, like most magi, but he wasn't that successful. Rumors said that he had lost his eye sight in one of his experiments and was now incapable of using anything than the most basic thaumaturgy.

"Yes, what can I do for you?", the researcher asked the student.

"I was told to deliver this letter from Miss Edelfelt to you", Chadwick told him and handed over a letter to him. Wait. A letter.

"Do you have someone to read it for you?", Chadwick asked cooperatively, but Mister Weissbach waved him off.

"Don't worry about that", he told him, "I have that covered." Chadwick bowed down and left him alone. He closed the door and turned his attention towards the letter. It had runes on it, so that nobody else except him would be able to read it. On the other hand he _had_ to _read_ it, to get to know the content. Sighing he took off his blindfold. Opposite to what the rumors said, his green-brown eyes didn't show a sign of blindness. Actually there was nothing wrong with his eyes. But the fact that he had to wear the blindfold because of some experiment, was true.

He opened the letter. Inside there was just a short notice:

"Dear Volquart,

Please find me immediately.

Your loving sister,

Dietlinde Edelfelt"

Volquart snorted. Yeah. "Loving" sister, alright. If she really had been such a loving sister, she would have given him that jewel for free. And she wouldn't have sent him a letter just to tell him, to meet up with her. He put his research notes away and put on the blindfold again. Then he headed for the residence of his older sister. Since she married into the Edelfelt she stopped living at the Clock Tower and they didn't meet that often. Fortunately. The relationship between him and her already hadn't been the best before, but now, they really hated each other. The problem was that he had only been able to learn magecraft thanks to her. And she wouldn't let him forget it. When he rang the bell of the magnificently mansion, he was welcomed by a maid.

"Good evening, Miss Edelfelt is already waiting for you. Please follow me." Miss Edelfelt, or Dietlinde Weissbach, as he had known her for half of his life waited for him in a fancy room drinking tea. Her most distinguish feature was her long golden hair styled in large coils and her expansive blue dress.

"Good evening, Volquart. You are late." The person in question just wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.

"Please forgive me, Miss Edelfelt." He bowed towards her. "Once the message managed to reach me, I came as fast as I could. Can I ask, what it is that requires my lowly services?!"

"Right." She waved towards a butler and he brought in a black suitcase. "In this suitcase there are important research documents, I have for a contact in Japan. I want you to bring them to him." She snapped with her fingers and the same butler gave him an envelope. "In this envelope you have all information considering the name and location of the contract. Do you have anymore questions?"

"No, I will immediately venture towards Japan." She smiled at him a sinister smile.

"Excellent. I knew I could count on you!"

* * *

Now:

How could this happen?! Angra Mainyu was aghast. In all his times he lived through the fourth Heaven's Feel, nothing like this has happened. Somehow someone managed to summon a Servant without going through him. Meaning, although the summoned Servant did indeed receives mana from the Grail, it didn't need any to be summoned. It appeared just like that with a link towards it. What's more, he just couldn't figure out the identity of the Servant. He knew the class was Saver, but that was all. No matter where he looked, he couldn't find its origin. Someone did go through such length so hide it from him, as if he knew that Angra Mainyu was residing inside the Holy Grail and manipulating it. That was dangerous.

But what should he do? What could he do? His power about the True Magics wasn't infinite. He could only do specific things, regarding the Holy Grail. So, as an example he could only jump in time using the fifth Magic in the moment of his demise towards his death in the third War. The third Magic allowed him to reanimate heroes and the second to search for those heroes somewhere else. The only thing he could do to counter the new Servant was to summon his own. He had a little bit prana over, so it just might be enough for a specific Servant class. But now, he had to find someone who would try to summon a Heroic Spirit even though he didn't receive Command Seals and all other Servants where already summoned. But to his luck he even already had a candidate in view, he just had to wait for him to try again.

* * *

Volquart followed the description his sister had written - or rather had let written - to find the house of Sakoshimo Hiroko. Of course, she just had to send him towards Fuyuki while the Heaven's Feel was held. Somehow he wondered if she deliberately tried to get him killed. But he couldn't say no to any of her request. Not after her giving him that jewel which steadily sent out ultrasonic waves.

Volquart was different from normal magi. Every magi is able to a certain extent to detect activation of magecraft or lingering of magical energy. In other words, to detect magi. Of course, a lot of magi didn't like that and so developed ways to hide their magical energy. Now, when Volquart was young, he did an experiment. An experiment that would give him the ability to detect even the smallest traces of magecraft. He did that not because he wanted to have an edge over other magi but just for the sake of research because he had theorized that he could. He tried to modify one of his senses so that it would become sensitive to the presence of magecraft. This way his magecraft detection, using one of his own natural senses as a medium, would be superior to the ones using their sixth sense, their instinct.

In that he succeeded. But the experiment did not work as it should on two accounts. First, he was not able to switch it off. Second, and that was the real problem, the sense, which he had enhaced to detect magecraft, was not his sight, as he had intented, but his actual sixth sense, his sense of balance. Now, whenever in his vicinity thaumaturgy was used, he felt as if the gravity came from that direction. But since the gravity didn't changed at all, it felt to him like he was standing on a wall, vertically towards the ground. The stronger the magecraft, the stronger he felt the pull, resulting in him falling down trying to regain the balance, he hadn't lost in the first place. This has made him unfit to even be near magecraft and would have put his whole career on hold, if he hadn't found a way around it.

And he did. He managed to create a Mystic Code which would gather the sound waves coming from his environment and, as long as he made some sounds himself, turn it into an inner vision, just like bats oriented themselves. Of course that wasn't all. To work against his sense of balance he didn't connect it to his axis but to Gaia's, meaning directly towards the gravity itself. That induced, it would always be stagnate, regardless of what his sense of balance was telling him.

That did sounded good, but in reality it wasn't. It did let him see behind him and everywhere his sound reached, but at the same time, he only could use it to work against his sense of balance, if he put his mental viewpoint vertically above him, making it hard for him to coordinate his actions. Furthermore, he had to close his eyes, since the his mental vision would overlap with his real one, making it even harder to coordinate. That was actually the reason, he always wore a blindfold. Third, he continuously had to make some kind of noise, which would result in people around him getting annoyed or thinking he was crazy.

The solution was of course ultrasonic. But he didn't knew how he could do something like that. And that was, were his sister came in. Gratefully she gave him a gem which would steadily send out the sonic waves. But of course she didn't told him, how he could produce the same object, since it was part of the Edelfelt's gem magecraft. But he didn't have enough money to buy the jewel, so they settled instead with him providing her any services she asked from him. Not that he had any choice, if he wanted to continue with thaumaturgy and not be labeled as a failure. Her giving him letters and descriptions, he had to read with his eyes instead of Structural Grasp, were just intended as humiliation towards him. That is to say, to add insult to injury. Yes, their relationship was that bad.

He really would be glad, when his task was over. After all, outside of the Clock Tower he couldn't wear his blindfold and usually settled for black shades, which blocked as much light as possible, but not all. He had to copy the road description on another cheat of paper to even be able to set one foot after another without stumbling, since looking with his eyes usually messed up with his balance system.

Finally reaching his destination he rang the bell and a big, burly middle-aged man opened the door.

"Sakoshimo Hiroko?", he asked. "I've come on behalf of Dietlinde Edelfelt."

"Oh, yes", he nodded. "I was waiting for your arrival. Please come in." Volquart followed him inside and took place at the table in his living room. He felt a strong wave of prana coming from behind a specific door, but that was to be expected. After all, a magus workshop was the place he did all of his magical experiments and every magus had one. Volquart took the suitcase and handed it over towards Mister Sakoshimo, who opened it and read the notes inside.

"Is my presence still required?", the researcher from the clock tower asked and the Japanese magus looked up from his notes.

"Please wait for a moment. I might have a message for you to take to Miss Edelfelt, if that is alright with you?"

"Of course." Volquart would have preferred to get out of here, quickly, but if he left without getting the reply he would get into trouble. The host looked through the notes, then sighed in frustration.

"Damn, nothing helpful. Well", he looked up, "please send Miss Edelfelt that I am thankful for her help, but it didn't advance any of my research."

"Yes, I will do so." He stood up and Sakoshimo did the same, holding out his hand while he did so.

"It was a pleasure to meet you. I hope we can meet again."

"I think so, too", Volquart said and politely shook the hand, even though he never wanted to come back again. Suddenly, when he turned around, it happened. Out of nowhere the host took a giant axe and slashed at Volquart from behind. Even with his bird's-eye view he only narrowly avoided the weapon and its giant blade sank into the floor.

"Oh? You dodged?", Sakoshimo noticed with glee in his voice, but Volquart didn't responded. Within one moment he used prana to enlarge the reach of his Mystic Code to the maximum. Before he only had the necessary scope for walking, so to not invade the privacy of the magus, but this one had tried to kill him. Now the whole layout of the residence was pictured out inside his inner eye. What he saw filled him terror. In the room he had previously felt a large amount of prana lay three human corpses. Without hesitation he sprinted towards on of the side doors. The main entrance was blocked by the magus with the axe, so he would have to make a detour, to get out of the house. Once outside he hopefully would be safe. So he ran quickly through a set of rooms towards a window, while behind him the axe-wielder shouted:

"Run! Run! Oh, that makes it always so much more fun!" He nearly reached the window, when suddenly in front of him a boar materialized and charged straight at him. Without time to react, he took the full force of the attack. He gasped for air and the husks ripped open his stomach. But the boar didn't stopped there. Without slowing down, he crashed with him through a wall and then another. His glasses flew away and most of his rips broke. The boar suddenly stopped and he flew into the middle of the room. He couldn't even master any strength to stand up. With his blurred vision he noticed himself landing beside some strange big red symbol.

"Oh, yes, I forgot that was there", Sakoshimo said, while walking through the hole in the wall. The boar impatiently scrabbled with his hooves while he stood just there thinking with his giant axe nonchalant on his shoulder as if it didn't weigh anything.

"Alright, I've decided." His face split into a big crazy smile. "You know, next to you that is a summoning circle. If you manage to summon a Heroic Spirit and become a Master, I'll let you live. Na, how about that?" Volquart didn't responded. He still had trouble progressing what he had said. He nearly didn't notice, when Sakoshimo put down a cheat of paper under his nose.

"Hurry, hurry up and read!" Volquart steadied his vision. He didn't exactly thought that would work and he knew, his enemy didn't thought that either. Otherwise he wouldn't let him try it. But it was his only chance to get out of this alive. Like a madman he clinched on that small piece of hope and recited, what was written on the paper.

* * *

Ah, now Angra Mainyu remembered. This development happened more than once before. The fake Sakoshimo would try to summon a Servant day after day, but he was too late, everybody else summoned his one already. And then another one would come to his place, bringing documents, he always thought, would help him to summon a Heroic Spirit outside the norm. And usually it was Volquart Weissbach who would be the one delivering the paper. Usually Angra Mainyu would ignore them both, but this time it was a special occasion. He needed another Servant for himself. And since he didn't knew, if the axe wielder would try to summon again after Volquart failed his summoning, he had to do it now.

Oh, the irony! Poor fake Sakoshimo, right after he had decided to include another Servant. Some people really didn't have much luck. Now the only question was, what Heroic Spirit he should summon. Since he had to do with the mana he had over, he could only summon one of the Avenger-class. Even though he would be able to go down himself as the representative, he didn't have much power outside the Grail. So it was better to summon someone else. But for a rule, there weren't that much heroes fitting for the Avenger class and those who did were rather weak compared to other heroes. Even if they had been extremely strong in their own world and time, they would be weakened by the class container under which they were summoned. And since the Avenger class had no class skill they had to make only with their abilities from life, so more often than not they didn't had **Magic Resistance**, **Presence Concealment** or **Territory Creation**.

So, he had to choose an Avenger who had a Noble Phantasm that would counter the eighth Servant. But since he didn't knew anything about that Servant he couldn't decide depending on that. So, what about a Servant, capable of countering the strongest ability of his favorite Counter Guardian and a wish, he wants to have fulfilled, no matter what?

* * *

"_The base is made out of silver and steel._

_The foundation is stone and the lord of contracts._

_By the great ancestor, the Master Schweineorg._

_A wall will block the falling wind._

_The gates to all four directions will close._

_From the crown, come fourth and venture through the forest to the king._

_Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill._

_Repeat Five Times._

_But destroy each when filled._

_I hereby propose._

_You shall come under my command and your blade shall control my fate._

_If you accept my will and reason, answer me under the summons of the Holy Grail._

_I make my oath here._

_I will become the white of the eternal world, I will slay the chaos of the eternal world._

_Under the six heavens, you clad with the Great Trinity, come fourth from the circle of refraction._

_Guardian of The Heavenly Scales!_"

Contrary to all his expectations suddenly a bolt of pain went through Volquart's right hand and a red mark appeared, resembling a key with a key ring and inside something like a closed eye. Sakoshimo was frozen in place, as the summoning circle started to glow in a white blending light. They had to close their eyes and with his sonic vision, Volquart could see a person forming.

When the light died down, he opened his eyes to better take in the appearance of this newcomer. It was a young slender teenage girl with purple hair and green eyes. Under each of her eyes there was painted a blue triangle. She wore a white mixture of over shirt and coat, covering her shoulders and back. It split up in two parts at her bottom, going left and right and at the end rolled itself up like a role of bandages. Under that she wore a purple undershirt only covering her chest and exposing her belly. Her lower body attire consisted of a white skirt, black and white stockings as well as black shoes with the same closed-eye-insignia that was on his hand. Furthermore she wore a white hat, with the same insignia in the middle in pink and ribbons on both sides. The only thing asymmetrical on her was the really long wristband with a ribbon on her right lower arm.

"How?", stammered Sakoshimo. "I tried and tried and it didn't work! How come he tries one time and gets it right?!" The summoned Servant put her hand on her hip and puffed her chest out with pried.

"Hi, I am Me…", she stopped and a frown appeared on her face. "Wait! Am I not supposed to not introduce myself?!" Then she noticed the man lying on the floor. Panic filled her face as she kneeled down. "Mister, are you alright?" Then she turned around towards the other one, still his axe in his hands. Her eyes were filled with anger.

"You did that, didn't you?", she accused him. He shrugged.

"And what if I did?" Within a second she was before him, striking with her fist. But just as fast as she was with her attack he held his axe in both hands and blocked the strike. However to his surprise his weapon didn't withstand the force and splattered in a red liquid, while her fist drove into his chest, sending him back flying through the hole in the wall.

"I won't allow anything to leave me without dreams and hopes again!", she declared gravely. Sakoshimo stood shakily up.

"Interesting. So it is possible to summon Heroic Spirits even if the seven are already present. I have to tell my brothers this!" Quickly he went away, before the Servant could attack him again. But the Servant in question right now had different problems.

"Mister, hey Mister, are you alright? What shall I do, what shall I do? Right! An ambulance, right?! I am going to get an ambulance!" But before she could do anything Volquart gripped her leg.

"Don't!", he pleaded. "This is a workshop! Don't let ordinary people come here! Just give me something to bandage the wounds!"

"Right!", she said and eagerly searched around for some rags. At the same time he moved himself into a more stable position and when she came back, covered his wounds. Now that he saw her close he could see two things that were a little bit odd about her and showed that she wasn't human. First, she had rectangular pupils. Second, she had pointy ears sticking out towards the side.

He winced, when suddenly a bolt of pain soared through his body. He really should search for a doctor soon. But first he had to be able to move.

"So, who are you?", he asked her.

"I am Me… I did it again! Sorry, I am Avenger, your Servant!" Avenger?! He tried to recall what he could of the Holy Grail War, but couldn't remember anything about the class Avenger.

"Well, for now, after I got some rest, it would be good, if you would bring me to the church. The supervisor of the Grail War should stay there. He is going to be able to help me."

"Okay!"

The aforementioned supervisor was worrying turning towards his son. He only said four words:

"Avenger has been summoned!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

Now I think we really have all the Servants, don't you think so?

Sakoshimo Hiroko. Or rather, the fake one. The next possible explanation, why someone would summon another Servant. Someone trying to hijack the Grail system and Angra Mainyu generously letting them in. But how to go around the fact that he still needed mana for the summoning. I couldn't just ignore it or the Grail War wouldn't do a sixty-year break. But it probably would have a little bit over, but only enough for Avenger, the weakest class of them all. The only original Avenger had no class skills, no personal skills and only a third-rate Noble Phantasm that works only under specific circumstances. In this case I had thought that personal skills come from their life and would most likely transfer over to the Servant skills, but no class skills and thus this story's Avenger was "born".

Regarding the fake Sakoshimo, you might even figure out his name, even though he is an OC.

Now, Yamashiro Aoba has brought it to my attention that the one I used as my model for how magi sensed magical energy, Emiya Shirou, was just an exception. Kinda like a hypersensitive fellow who could notice oddities around him by interpreting it in his brain as smell. Rin herself just "sensed" magical energy. This is the reason, why I changed Volquart's trouble with his sense of balance from being a born condition to one acquired through an experiment.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	6. Chapter 5: Searching for a Wish

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews!

**Mordalfus Grea**: I am sorry, but I don't think I am going to include Beast. I only introduced the other two Servants with good reasons. Aside from the summoned Servants, I still try to be canon to the nasuverse. This Servant class was only a part of Prototype and the only fitting person for that would actually be the Beast with the number 666. It is like the class "Gilgamesh" from Extra if you think about it. A class that has the name of the Servant. What's more, they did cut Beast out and its role was completely taken away by Avenger, making it the least likely to be introduced in the Fuyuki Holy Grail War. So, no matter what happens, I am not going to introduce Beast. Although I might go for a Ruler, if there is a good reason for one to be summoned. But that's unlikely. Besides, except Ruler and Beast I am also missing Launcher, Monster, Temptress, Gunner, Idol, Butler, Author, Boxer… you get the picture.

**Njhnaruto**: Like I told Mordalfus Grea before, I only will introduce Ruler, if there is a good reason for one.

Chapter 5: Searching for a Wish

"So, are you happy with my performance, Master?!", Lancer asked in a mocking tone. His Master wasn't happy with the tone, but didn't reprimand him because his performance really had been outstanding. When he first heard about the **Territory Creation** of his Servant, Kayneth didn't knew, what to think about it at first. As a magi he would have been able to create his own workshop and protect it accordingly. But, as Lancer has told him amused, a workshop could be created by someone who only had a **Territory Creation** Rank B. Rank A would allow someone to create a "Temple", superior to a normal workshop, but with his A+ he is able to create a "Castle"!

So when Kayneth had been prepared to book an entire floor of a hotel for himself, Lancer had told him, to just buy an empty house, since that would be more efficient. And it was. On the outside their little house looked like a normal residence belonging to a poor family, but on the inside it was a gigantic palace! With dozens of rooms, staircases, traps and monsters, ready to attack any intruder, some of them capable of keeping Heroic Spirits on their toes and even defeat weak ones.

Yes, when it came to creating a home advantage Lancer was the best. Most likely even better than the Caster, summoned in this Holy Grail War. Usually **Territory Creation** was a class skill inherit to the Caster class and no other Servant should have it, when they hadn't built a workshop in their whole life. But according to Lancer he was born with the potential to build something like a workshop, he just didn't used it.

The explanation for the high rank of this skill was actually another skill: **Double Summon**. This rare skill allowed the Servant to have skills from two classes, additionally to his personal skills! So he had the **Magic Resistance** and **Battle Continuation** from the Lancer class and the **Territory Creation** from the Caster class. So he was both a magic resilient fighter who would only go down from the most severe wounds and a great magus capable of using great thaumaturgy. Even him missing the Caster skill **Item Construction**, since he wasn't suited for it, wasn't significant as he already had a collection of potions and magical pendants.

"Yes, Lancer", Kayneth also praised his Servant without feeling the need to hide his respect for him. "You certainly are a great Servant. I have the feeling with you on my side, we won't have any problems claiming the Holy Grail for us! Speaking of which, now that I think about it, I still didn't ask you, what you wanted to wish from the Holy Grail." Actually he had planned to ask this question right at their first meeting, to not get a bad surprise once they defeated all the other Servants, but forgot it in the swirl of events.

"My wish? I want to lose my abilities!" Kayneth was taken aback. Again! This Servant really managed to do that way to often for his taste. But really, why would someone want to lose such great power?! His wife was the one who voiced his thoughts:

"Losing your abilities?! You want to lose, what helped you to become a Heroic Spirit in the first place?! Aren't you happy with those powers?!" Lancer coldly laughed.

"Yeah, the powers are great and all, it's more the fact that everyone is thinking so, too that is bothering me. But what about you, Master? What are you going to wish from the Holy Grail?"

"I don't have a wish", Kayneth told him without shame, "I participate in the Holy Grail for the fame the victory will bring me!" Lancer twisted his face.

"Seriously?! That's totally lame, not to say stupid! Risking your life just for the sake of fame? That's even a worse reason than conquering the world! There you at last gain something!" Kayneth was getting angry.

"Oh? You think being famous isn't a good enough reason for you?!"

"Of course it's a good reason as any. But I personally wouldn't want to be famous for doing something stupid! Have you even ever thought about what would happen, if you die!"

"Who said I am going to die?! I am the strongest Master and you the strongest Servant. Or are telling me, you are actually weak?!"

"Oh isn't there someone full of himself. There is always someone stronger! Or someone who has a Rock-Paper-Scissor-advantage against you. And with your conviction you won't hold out for long!" Now Kayneth was furious. Who does this Servant think he is, to talk that way with his Master!

"I have had enough of your insolence!", Kayneth raged! "_By the power of this Command Seal, I order you_…"

"Stop!", Sola-Ui interfered in their dispute. "Why don't we all calm down and talk this out like civilized people? Fighting doesn't help any of us, right?"

"She is right", Lancer admitted and hold out his hand. "I am sorry, I stepped out of line. But you should really find something to wish for, when we get the Holy Grail, right?" Kayneth was still seething, but he decided to be generous and forgive his Servant this once.

"Alright, I will accept your apology", Kayneth declared and accepted the hand, shaking it. "And to honor this moment I will indeed think about something to wish from the Grail."

"Great! So, what are we going to do now? Wait inside my castle for the others to kill each other or go out and find ourselves some opponents to fight?" Kayneth thought about it for a bit.

"I want to know what you are capable of, so tonight we are going out and see, if we can someone to fight."

"Great!", Lancer exclaimed and made his way towards the door of the western styled room. "Then I will be going shopping now as long as there is still some daylight. Anybody wants to come with me?"

"Actually I wouldn't mind going with him", Sola-Ui announced and Kayneth nodded.

"Don't let me keep you from going", he told her, "I am going to stay here and plan for tonight." Sola-Ui nodded in recognition and went together with Lancer.

"Well, we are off!", the latter one shouted, but before he closed the door, he sent a mental message towards his Master:

'You should also really work on your I-am-invincible-attitude. Right now when we shook hands I could have killed you in ten different ways without you being able to react, so until later~

* * *

It was already night, when Volquart and Avenger finally made it towards the church. They only were able to go bit by bit, since they had to be careful not to be seen by anybody and attract attention. Luckily the church was rather close by and so they managed to get there without any incident. But before they entered the church grounds, Volquart stopped her.

"Please stay outside", he begged her, "the church is neutral territory. That means no Servants."

"What?!", she responded frantic. "But you can't even stand without my help! How do you do you expect to even make it to the door?!" Suddenly the door opened and a man emerged from it and now made his way towards them.

"Good evening", he greeted them. " I am Kotomine Risei, the Supervisor of the fourth Heaven's Feel. I am right with the assumption that you are Master and Servant?"

"Yes, we are", the Master answered. "I am Volquart Weissbach and this is my Servant."

"He got hurt really bad", Avenger added. "Can you help him?" She looked at the clergyman with pleading eyes. But Risei had to disappoint her.

"As the supervisor of the Holy Grail War, I am not allowed to play favorites. The only thing I can offer you is sanctuary, when you lost your Servant."

"That's okay", Volquart responded, "I actually came here to revoke my right as a Master." Shocked Avenger looked at her Master.

"What do you mean?", she demanded to know. "Didn't you summoned me to reach the Holy Grail?!" She probably would have backed off from him, if she didn't supported him so that he wouldn't fall down. Volquart laughed humorless.

"Even if I am not wounded I need magecraft to even walk in a straight line. I wouldn't even think about joining the Heaven's Feel in the first place. That other guy was the one who prepared the summoning ritual in an attempt to summon another Servant while there were already seven. It was just a stroke of luck that I was the one summoning you and not him. And I don't have a wish important enough to risk my life over it!" Avenger looked hurt at her Master. Risei on the other hand quickly analyzed the situation inside his head and the possible further developments that could happen.

"Please come inside", he told the strange pair. "This isn't something to discuss outside. But remember that this is neutral ground so hostile activities won't be tolerated." Silently Avenger helped her Master after the supervisor, refusing to look him in the eyes.

"There really aren't any hopes or dreams for me", she mused quietly in resignation. Volquart wondered, what she meant with that, but couldn't ponder about that, when his injuries sent a bolt of pain through his body as he tried to sit onto a bench in the church.

"Now please tell me, what happened regarding the summoning of your Servant."

"Well, it started with me getting the order to deliver some documents to Sakoshimo Hiroko. But after I've delivered them, he tried to kill me. He would have succeeded, if it weren't for a coincidence, which let me to the room, where he drew a summoning circle. In that moment I was already to wounded to even run, but after seeing the summoning circle he decided to let me try it out. As it appeared, he had tried it countless times and was searching for a way to summon an eight Servant. And I don't know, why I succeeded where he failed and I don't think, he thought it would work either, but it did. I summoned Avenger, who repressed him. After that he ran away and I made my way towards this church as I had no intention to participate in the first place."

"I see", the father said after giving the matter some thought. "Usually it is my duty as the supervisor to reprimand everybody trying to temper with the Heaven's Feel. But as you weren't the one doing the tempering, I won't."

"Wa-?" Avenger was shocked to even hear that her Master might have been punished for something he didn't did, but Volquart only thanked the old priest.

"So", he added, "regarding my right as the Master…"

"Ah, yes. I have decided that under this special circumstances you are allowed to try to reach the Grail, if you so desire."

"But I don't desire the Grail!"

"Yes, in this case I can grant you sanctuary, after you have officially revoked your right as a Master, after all for you, there isn't any wish worth dying for!" Volquart nodded.

"Exactly." Avenger wanted to say something, but stopped, before she spoke a word and then just looked sadly down. But then Risei said something that made them both perk up. Volquart because of the contents and Avenger, because her Master perked up.

"Not even reaching the Root?"

"What?!", Volquart spluttered out. Akasha, the Root was the location of the so called Akashi Records, the Swirl of the Root, which was the source of all events and phenomena in the universe. Reaching and having access to it was the ultimate goal of most magi. It was actually the reason, why he was so persistent to overcome his natural handicap and being able to study thaumaturgy, so that he might find a way to reach it. So, hearing that out of the mouth of the priest wasn't something he expected.

"Reaching the Root? You mean the Holy Grail is even able to do something like that?!"

"The Holy Grail is a powerful artifact that can grant any wish. Even reaching the Root."

"But I thought the Church doesn't care about the Root?!"

"We don't. But on the other hand, just like I said the Holy Grail can grant any wish. It is our duty to make sure that nobody tries to misuse it. Therefore reaching the root is a wish we can support."

"You are right. Reaching Akasha is indeed something I would consider worth risking his life for." Avenger's face brightened up. Does that mean, she still had a way to reach her goal.

"But only if there is a chance for me to reach it", he added, "and no matter how strong my Servant is, someone like me won't stand a chance in this Heaven's Feel!" Avenger face dropped again.

"I understand", she said, "you don't want to be my Master. There is nothing we can do about that. But please stop making me hopes!" Now Volquart felt bad. Seeing a young girl on the verge of crying wasn't something he felt comfortable about, especially if you considered that he indirectly was the reason for that. An usual magus would have had no problems with that, but Volquart was different, as he had always been on the bottom of the food chain himself and thus knew, what it felt like.

"There is a solution to that dilemma", Risei threw in. "One of the original seven Master already lost his Servant. If your Master isn't willing he might be."

"Are you giving me again hope, just to take it away later on?"

"You are right. It could be a vain hope. But isn't this better than just giving up?" She thought about it.

"I suppose?"

"Good." Then he turned back towards Volquart. "Regarding your participation, alone you indeed wouldn't make it. But what about an alliance with another Master, until all the other Servants are defeated?!"

"You already have someone in mind?!"

"Yes, Tohsaka Tokiomi has the same wish as you, reaching the Root. He wouldn't say no to an alliance and when you have defeated the other Servants you can let your two Servants fight against each other, to decide who will receive the Holy Grail!" Volquart's head was spinning.

"So, I have the chance to either reach Akasha or help someone else to do it and be there to witness it? Okay, I will participate in the Heaven's Feel as the Master of Avenger!" The girl beamed at him. It really looked like her wish was that important for her.

"Now isn't it time to let them in on our secret?", another voice perked up. Volquart looked at the newcomer and saw another priest. And next to him…

"Indeed, that would be the right course of action. Why? Because if we don't tell them now and they find out about it later they would feel betrayed and would work against us."

"A Servant?!", Avenger stated shocked. Why would a Servant be here?! And why did she noticed that just now? It couldn't be…

"My name is Kotomine Kirei", the newcomer said. I am the Master of the Servant Assassin. As a member of the Church I was tasked in this Holy Grail War with the support of Tohsaka Tokiomi. If you indeed team up with him to search for the Root, supporting him means supporting you, too. You should know that to do this, we let it look like Archer killed Assassin, so he could move around freely. And that is also the reason, why I searched for sanctuary at the church." Volquart couldn't suppress a small laugh. So, no playing favorites?! Well, as long as he was one of the favorites, he could life with that.

"But what about Assassin", he asked. "Is he okay with giving up his wish?"

"I do not search for the Holy Grail", Assassin answered the question himself. "Why? Because I am a shinobi and when a shinobi received a mission he will finish it, regardless off the rewards, as long as he doesn't receive a different mission from his chief or it endangers the lives of his comrades." Wow. That clearly was some strong devotion.

"So, do you know, where the Tohsaka-mansion is or are you going to need directions?", Risei asked and Volquart answered in the negative, resulting in the supervisor giving them to him.

"But you should stay here for the duration of the night and let me take a look on your injuries, before you finally start as a participant in the Heaven's Feel."

* * *

"So, do your enjoy your day so far?", Saber asked Irisviel while they were walking through the streets of Fuyuki City. Both did arrived earlier that day with the plane and were now binding their time. Kiritsugu already arrived twelve hours earlier so that the other Masters would think that Irisviel was the Master instead of him. And for the duration of the Holy Grail she would act like it, too. But for now Irisviel wasn't thinking about that.

"Thank you, Saber", she said happily, "I really am enjoying myself!" Saber was different from usual Heroic Spirits. Normal Heroic Spirits could dematerialize into Spirit Form to lessen the burden on their Master, since even when they weren't fighting they would still need to receive a great amount of prana to sustain corporal in this world. Although Saber had this skill, too, he also had another one, called **Double Identity**. It was an unranked skill which gave him two forms under which he could materialize. His Standard-Form, the same he took on upon being summoned and his Battle-Form, which she had yet to see. But his Standard-Form had nearly no maintaining cost, making it possible for him to walk around without straining his Master and making him look like a normal human, even to Servants capable of sensing other Servants.

And that made it possible for him to accompany her through the city like a normal child following his mother. Or aunt. He refused to call her mother, since he already had one, but didn't mind getting an aunt. He was actually calling her that to invoke the appearance of a normal family. Or as normal as they could get at last. Since Irisviel had never been outside the Einzbern castle and Saber was actually from Japan in the future – at last that was what Kiritsugu and Irisviel suspected – she was a lot more exited than him about everything that was there to be seen. When she mentioned it giggling to Saber he, too, smiled and answered affirmative.

"So, aunt Irisviel", he then asked her, "is there any place you would like to see, before the fighting starts?"

"Actually there is", she admitted. "I want to go to the beach." Irisviel had been living in the Einzbern castle her whole life, so she had never seen the beach before.

"Yes", he agreed. "Seeing the sea is something you should do at last once in your life! Although it is already getting darker. We won't be making it there before night-time!"

"That doesn't matter. Let's go!"

* * *

"Beautiful!", Irisviel exclaimed happy while looking at the water expanding and retreating on the ground made out of sand.

"Yes", Saber agreed, "the moon reflected on the ocean's surface is always a sight to behold!" Irisviel giggled.

"You've been to the sea before?", she asked.

"Yes, occasionally." He then remembered something and started to chuckle. "One time one of my friends planned a trip to the beach with our whole group, or most of the group anyway. Regardless when we reached the coast there was no beach but a pier because this town was famous for its crap fishing." He chuckled again. "Some of us were rather angry at him for this slip up." Imagining the scenario Irisviel laughed with him.

"Your friends seem like a lively bunch."

"Oh, they are. We certainly had a lot of fun."

"Had? Did something happened?"

"Well, the family of one of my friends got into trouble and I decided to help her out."

"Her? Don't tell me _she_'s your girlfriend!", Irisviel teased.

"Wha-?", Saber red-faced spluttered. "Ah, no, no, no, it wasn't like that. She is just a friend. I already have…" Saber trailed off, as he noticed, what exactly he was saying there.

"So you _do_ have a girlfriend! Ah, you're blushing, how cute!", she squealed and embraced him with a hug, swinging him around. "I just want to take you home with me!"

'Aren't I already your Servant?', was the only thing he could think, while she was cutting off his air supply, when suddenly he stiffened. Irisviel noticed this and let go of him.

"…An enemy Servant?", she asked and he nodded. "But he isn't going after us even though he clearly noticed us. Instead he is slowly distancing himself. Is this an invitation?"

"Hmm. That is honest. Does he want to choose the battlefield?"

"Well, if he is really inviting us…"

"…shouldn't we follow his invitation?" In the blink of an eye Saber's voice deepened. Aghast Irisviel stared at her Servant. Suddenly he was a lot taller and mature-looking. His eyes were red and his hair grew and protruded spiky from the back of his head, with the top half white and the bottom half is black. Furthermore his glasses vanished and he was now wearing a blue cloak over a black kimono and white socks and strip sandals.

"So, I guess this is your Battle-Form", Irisviel assumed.

"Indeed", he confirmed, "this is the form most suited for battle. So, shall we be on our way, princess?!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

So, next chapter is the first real fight between the new Servants.

Lancer. I really have to thank them for Assassin of Red, or I wouldn't know how to make him a Lancer, as he clearly is most suited for a Caster. But thanks to his skill he can stay a Lancer. He is unique in the way that regarding of the class that he is summoned under, you would get him from a different universe, where he decided to concentrate on another choice of weapons. But thanks to his original Noble Phantasm, he would always – except as Caster for obvious reasons – have the skill Double Summon responding to the class Caster.

Fun fact: When I decided, which Servants were to summoned, I chose characters from stories I liked and thought, not many people had these yet, not thinking about who would be good against whom, or who would get along with whom. (Except Berserker. I choose him, to let Kariya have a Servant that could hurt Tokiomi's Archer.) Even when I had decided, how to summon Avenger, I yet hadn't decided for Volquart and Tokiomi to team up. It just seemed the natural thing that they would do in this situation. A lot of the story points and fights are going to be decided, just before I reach that point of the story. That's not because I am lazy, but because I think, it will make the story more natural. But I do have some things that I already planned to happen.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	7. Chapter 6: The First Battle

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews!

**Pltrgst**: Although it sounds funny, I doubt, Grail-kun would be so put out by Saver. Archer isn't getting hindered, because he is summoned as a Heroic Spirit. I'll get there into detail, after he fought for the first time (for real). And thanks for pointing out that spell error. I didn't notice. Regarding the OCs, not all of them are going to play a big role. I think I actually chose too few, as one might be already able to tell, which one do. I try, but it's going to get slower, as the story progresses, as I still have other things to do.

**Mwkillkenny84**: Don't worry, Lancer should be nearly impossible to figure out, without him fighting. He isn't that known. Only his franchise is.

Chapter 6: The First Battle

Lancer patiently waited at the port for the other Servant to arrive. At night there really was no person around to see the battle that would unfold. Perfect conditions for a secret war. Finally he appeared from the other side. Just like him he wasn't hiding but slowly made his way towards him in full view. Behind him, there was his Master. Unlike his, who hid himself within a bounded field, she was just as open as his Servant. Her trust in her Servant was clearly admirable.

"So, Saber I guess", he spoke to the newcomer who casually carried a drawn katana over his shoulder. "It looks like you are the only one to follow my invitation."

"Indeed. It seems so, Lancer, I guess." Just as Saber wielded a katana, he himself wielded a spear. But opposite to his katana which looked like a fairly normal weapon, you could easily see that his spear was something special as it was three-pronged. It was a gold and blue trident with three silver spikes. And ironically it was called "Trident", too.

"Yes, I am Lancer. Now that the formalities are over, why don't we start, what we came here for?"

"What a hasty fellow. Very well, let the fight commence!" Lancer dashed forward and thrust his trident at his opponents heart, only to be met with steel. Saber was holding his sword slightly above him with the blade pointing downwards, sitting between two of the spikes. Lancer smiled. A splintered top on a weapon could usually be used to catch the opponent's weapon and sometimes break it, yet his opponent had no qualms using the same top to block his enemies strike. This was going to be fun!

* * *

Two shapes sat upon the Fuyuki Bridge. On of them, observing the battle between the two Servants, was Rider. The other one, clinging to the steel frame for his dear life, was Waver. He didn't knew it beforehand, but now he had found out that he was afraid of heights. And his Servant made no move towards letting him go back to the ground. She didn't even asked, if he wanted to come in the first place. No, she instead picked him up and with one jump carried him bridal style on top of it and then put him down. Now she didn't pay him any need and instead took great attention towards the battle in front of their eyes. And at the same time her anticipation grew. She wanted to go down there and fight with them. And her Master noticed it, too.

"Wait!", he tried to stop her. "I told you, not to fight until we have more information on the opponents!" He gulped as she turned towards him. Again her face had equipped that cold gaze. "A-at-at last wait until one of them is defeated! And let me down!" To his surprise she actually obeyed, picking him up, jumping down with him and then jumping up alone, again. Waver sighed and proceeded to watch the battle from the eye of one of his familiars. He really hoped, she wouldn't interfere until one of them was out for good!

* * *

But Waver and Rider weren't the only ones to watch this battle. In the near vicinity there were five further people watching the fight that had unfolded. On of them was Emiya Kiritsugu. He had brought his sniper rifle, but he wasn't going to use it against Servants. No Servant would be brought down by any modern firearm. The Master though was a different story. Lancer's Master hid himself behind a bounded field, but like all usual magi he made one grave mistake. He made himself invisible towards eyes and magic, but not the infra-red vision, Kiritsugu added to his sniper rifle. With this he couldn't just tell, where some person's were hidden, but since magecraft heated up ones body, he could easily pick out one magus in a crowd of normal people.

This time there was only one person at that place and from his position he had a clear view at him. He could shoot and kill him right now, if there wasn't one problem: Assassin. Thanks to his scope he could make him out on top of a crane. It seemed his intuition regarding the death of Assassin was right. And that was the root of the problem. If he killed Lancer's Master right now, his location would be exposed and most likely would entail an attack from Assassin. And even if Assassins were the weakest Servants in a direct fight, they were still a lot stronger than a standard magus. He - most likely - wouldn't stand a chance. He could use a Command Seal and use the power of the absolute order to bent space and let his Servant come to him, even though Saber didn't even knew, he was here, but that would leave his wife alone with Lancer. And even without a Master every Heroic Spirit could linger in this world for a little while. He had no other choice, but to trust in the abilities of his Servant, who, according to his own words, was just a normal student.

* * *

Even though Assassin had the best available spot to look at this battle, he had been spotted. By the man who decided not to go to the same place, because it was the best suited for spying. But neither of them would notice the last pair of the audience.

There was one Servant who had the opinion that the best spot to watch a battle was a spot, he created himself. Saver and his Master were currently on top of a giant open book, hovering in the air. Of course not directly above the battle, but further apart. They were so far away that it should be impossible for Akage to see the fight, yet alone made out details.

But Saver had a way around that. His Master was laying on top of his front and in his hand was something that looked like a rolled newspaper and was looking with his right eye through it. Maybe you know of small children or even did this once yourself when you were small, but playing children would sometimes roll up a sheet of paper, look through it and pretend, it was a telescope. The funny thing with Akage's telescope was, it was working! He could see the battle as clear as if he was standing right in front of it! At first he was completely occupied with this piece of magic, forgetting their real purpose. Until the fight started. Holy Shit, they were fast! He couldn't even follow their movements at all, only the damage towards the surrounding area. So these guys were the reason for the fire? And they had to defeat seven of them?!

"They are only using their standard fighting methods", said Saver, who knew precisely what Akage was thinking, "they have yet to use their Noble Phantasm." Of course he could see them. He was a Servant, so he had super human eyes and could follow their movements. The Lancer swiftly swung his trident around, attacking from different angles. Saber had a more calm and focused style. He didn't move more than necessary and met every attack of his opponent with only one swing of his sword. He had yet to go on the offense. Saver realized that using a pronged spear instead of a usual one in this situation was actually disadvantageous for the Knight of the Lance. Soon he had to either retreat or use his Noble Phantasm. The question was only if he would do it before his opponent went on the offense or after.

* * *

Lancer was getting irritated. Saber was making fun of him! Casually waving every one of his attacks aside and never loosing this smug smile! Now to be fair, he probably had all the reason for that. He most likely spend all his life refining his techniques to become a master swordsman while he just picked up a spear and beat up his opponents, while at the same time learning how to use his special ability. Even though he had become skilled enough to qualify as Lancer, it was still not the same as his opponent. Yes, that was the disadvantages of learning two different occupations. Although he still had to use what he was famous for. After the next attack he pushed himself away from Saber, retreating to a safer distance. His opponent looked curiously at him.

"Oh? Was it that already?!" Lancer looked sour at him.

"Master", he spoke, "please allow me to use my Noble Phantasm."

"Permission granted", his Master agreed. "But please, show me something a little more impressive." Lancer groaned and let his trident vanish. Saber lifted up an eyebrow. Now Lancer summoned a different spear. It was a long and moreover rather thick red spear with a lot of gold ornamentation. The head of the spear was bulb-like, only narrowing down a little at the top. But even the pointy end was as thick as the shaft. It looked more like a deformed mace than a spear, not exactly suited for piercing. But that was okay. This one had another function besides piercing.

He swung his spear around and again was met with his opponents katana. But suddenly, Saber jumped back as sparks of lightning escaped from the peak. Immediately Lancer lunged after him, forcing Saber to retreat even further. Yes, that was the real purpose of his this lance called **_Gungner (Lightning Bolt)_**. As every child could tell you, metal conducts electricity. And swords were made out of metal. So if Saber blocked his lance with his sword he would get electrocuted. Although he probably wouldn't die, it would still hurt and damage him. Soon Saber noticed that only the peak was electrifying and that he could block the spear at the shaft. But that was easier said than done. After all, the main advantage of a spear wasn't the head, it was the long reach. To block the spear he first had to get behind the peak, which wasn't that easy, since it was thicker than usual and he couldn't just attack the user, since the lance was longer than his sword. Everyone of his attacks would inevitably follow with an electrocution.

"Oho. It looks like I am going to have to use my Noble Phantasm, too", Saber concluded. He gripped his blade with his two hands, calmed his mind and uttered the incantation:

"**_Meikyō Shisui (Ripples on the Surface)._**" Then he vanished. Lancer stumbled as his attack wasn't caught with resistance, but he quickly caught himself and swiftly looked around. His opponent was nowhere to be seen.

'Lancer, what happened?!', his Master demanded to know within his mindscape, but Lancer didn't knew it himself either. Quickly he activated one of his abilities and soon saw a yellow flickering circle coming towards him.

'He didn't turn to spirit form', Lancer observed. 'It is his Noble Phantasm! It seems, it allows him to turn invisible.' Suddenly out of the corner of his eye he could make out another yellow circle on top of a crane. 'Careful, Master. On top of the crane, there's another one.'

'What is there, I can't see that far!'

'Sorry, Master, kind of tied up here.' He held up his spear to block the sword of Saber, who just became visible again.

"Oh, I was right", Saber uttered. "You are able to see me!" Lancer didn't made any effort to correct him. After all, he only could see his location. Instead he himself took on a smug smile and spoke presumptuous:

"Yes, I can see you. So, what are you going to do, now that I sealed your Noble Phantasm?!"

Light-footed he jumped back to bring some more distance between them.

"I am going to see, if you are able to see through this technique, too: **_Kyōka Suigetsu (The Moon Reflected on the Surface of a Puddle)_**." What?! Another one, already?! He could feel the outburst of prana, indicating the activation of an attack, but he just stood there, without moving.

"What are you…" Suddenly a bolt of pain went through his left arm. Saber, who had just stayed still was suddenly right beside him, cutting his flesh with his blade. Lancer swung his spear around, but the shaft did go right through him, turning the area he hit into black fog. Then suddenly blood spouted from the wound on his arm, accompanied with black symbols of kanji. Quickly he changed his ability from 'seeing the hidden' to regeneration and jumped back, frantic looking around for Saber. But his regeneration couldn't keep up with the damage. He took out a jar with an orange liquid in it, opened it and gulped it all down in one go. At once the strange symbols stopped flowing. Then he took out a blue potion and with its help the wound closed, too.

'Master', he sent to Kayneth through their mental connection, 'we have to retreat. I won't be able to fight against him without a big mirror and his sword is cursed. It cost me both an "Uncurse Potion" and a "High Potion" and I only have nine of the first one. Now eight.'

'What do you mean?! Aren't you a hero?! Shouldn't you at last be able to put up a fight?!'

'I told you, there is always someone stronger. And we are completely mismatched. We have to retreat!'

"Interesting", commented Saber. "You have something to negate the effects of this blade? That is the first time I have seen something like that!" Lancer didn't answer.

'Very well, we will retreat for now. It seems you really are better suited as a Caster than a Lancer.' Lancer forced himself to not react at his Master's obvious jab towards his abilities and prepared himself to leave, when suddenly a figure came down from above. He slid over the ground, pushing a small shockwave in front of him, as the newcomer crashed into the place, he first had stood. It was a girl in a black dress with long curly golden hair, wearing a black crown. Her most distinctive feature were black wheels instead of shoes, a short black and gold sword in her right hand and a gigantic black and gold shield in her left, big enough for her to easily hide behind it.

"Is that Rider?!", he asked to no one in particular. Hearing his voice, her piercing gaze quickly drifted towards him. She lifted her weapons and her wheels started to turn. Nearly too fast for Lancer to react, she slid towards him. He was only able to block the sword with his spear just in time, before she spilt him in half. He pushed against her blade, but she wouldn't let go, when suddenly, while still keeping his spear locked with her sword, she spun around, smashing the thick side of the shield against his head. The impact sent him flying against a container, leaving a dent in the metal skin. He gasped for air, but his opponent didn't gave him any time to breath. He threw a puppet and it was only by a small margin that she cut it in half instead of him when they switched places.

He ran out of options! He pointed **_Gungner_** down and focused and when she attacked him again, he let out a load roar and transformed into a giant monster. It resembled a big human with greatly developed muscles and dark tinned skin, no hair on top of the head, a long beard, pointy ears and red eyes, wearing nothing but a big girdle covering his manhood. Furthermore he had a long tail and a pair of black wings and instead of _**Gungner** _in his hand there was a black spear with a big metal head, which looked like the cutting part of a kitchen knife.

As soon as he finished with his transformation he skid towards Rider who blocked with her shield, but to her dismay he phased right through it and her, still cutting her in the process. Outraged she turned around to attack Lancer who had just transformed back, but she was hindered by Saber, who just appeared and stopped her blade.

"Now, now", he told her. "Not so impatient. Lancer and I weren't finished, yet." Lancer actually was just about to go, but thought it would be better for his health, if he didn't mention that.

"Rideeeer!", suddenly the voice of a young man could be heard wining. Waver Velvet had finally managed to catch up to his Servant. "What are you doing?! I told you to wait, why don't you listen to me?!" Rider didn't said anything, but she didn't attack again and instead took a defensive position.

"Oh, it's you, of all people!", suddenly Kayneth voice could be clearly heard by everyone. Waver froze. The voice of his old lecturer was filled with hatred towards him. "I wondered what you were going to do with my Holy Relic in your outrage and now here you are! I didn't think you would be stupid enough to join the Heaven's Feel, Waver Velvet." The person in question shrunk more and more.

"When you didn't summon Alexander the Great, you should have taken this as a sign to give up this nonsense. I wanted only the best for you, living a mediocre and stable life. But if you are going to throw that all away, I am gladly going to give you an extra tutorial. The true meaning of the slaughter between magi. I will pass the terror and pain of the kill onto you without reservation. You should be proud." Waver was already shivering in fear, not being able to pay attention to his Servant anymore. Lancer sighed.

"You can really overdo it, Master." Suddenly Rider, who had looked around for the origin of this voice, directed her gaze towards Lancer. „Great, here we go again." But this time her gaze wasn't as cold as before. It was burning with hatred! She waved her arm around and sent her shield flying into the air. How such a small child was able to throw such a heavy object that high in the air was beyond him, when suddenly it came down again. On top of him. With ten times the size. Lancer dashed to the side as a giant construct crashed at the place he had been standing before. It was a giant vehicle with six spider-like legs and something resembling a fabric face with pink frills at the front. At the rear there were two giant wheels, looking like her shield from before. Now Waver knew, why his Command Seals were in the shape of a spider and two gears.

Rider jumped onto a seat, located between the two wheels.

"Master", Lancer just said, "I hate you!" The legs started to move and the whole thing rushed after the Knight of the Lance, who used a sudden burst of speed to move to the side, when suddenly the wheels grew spikes and quicker than you would expect of such a large vehicle it turned around, nearly skewering him. Instead she hit one of the container and with the force of her attack, knocking him through the air into the nearby water. The water! That's it! Quickly Lancer made his way towards it and jumped inside, Rider with her vehicle right behind him.

"Rider!", Waver whimpered. She had left him alone without any protection in front of all the enemies and especially Kayneth El-Melloi. Saber looked towards the boy.

"So, what are you going to do now?", he asked him. Waver winced, when he heard the Servant address him.

"Rider!", he whispered fearfully and tried futile to reach her through their mental connection. Kiritsugu pondered. This would be a good opportunity to get rid of Rider's Master, but he couldn't do it out of the same reasons, why he couldn't shoot Lancer's Master. So once again he just sat back, silently watching.

Suddenly Lancer shot through the surface of the ocean and into the air, him following were different colored round objects the size of a human, looking just like…

"…are those macarons?!" Every Master and Servant present couldn't believe their eyes, when the Knight of the Lance was multiple times thrown around in the air by oversized sweets.

"Don't kid with me!", Lancer screamed and took out a long but normal spear and rotated it in front of him, batting away all the eatable projectiles. Now Rider's mount jumped out of the water and one could see that the origin of the macarons was actually the open mouth which was at the same place where before there had been a face. Lancer evaded the new coming sweets and landed on top of the construct, charging with **_Gungner_** in his hand towards the Servant, when suddenly an army of small black spiders with a face like the big vehicle jumped towards him. He batted the first ones away, but the numbers overwhelmed him, making him lose his support and fall down. He crashed into the ground and Rider landed some yards behind him. Suddenly around Lancer a tornado formed and blew away all the small spiders on him.

"Now I am mad!", he declared, turned towards Rider and with a wave of his arm conjured a wave made out of flames sailing over the ground and burning all the new spiders out to get him. Then he hold out his hand and a white laser beam shot towards Rider. But Rider launched herself with the help of her construct into the air, letting it disperse, before the beam hit it. In the air she conjured her shield again and threw it towards Lancer, who slid backwards to avoid it. Shortly after it buried itself into the ground, Rider landed beside it, pulling it out of the ground and again hunted after Lancer.

'Damn', Lancer thought, but to his surprise…

"Oj, Rider", another voice chimed in. "You sure, you wanna let your little Master stay here all alone?! What if something's happening to him?" Everybody turned towards the newcomer who stood leisurely on Waver's left side, pointing with the thumb towards him. Waver let out a startled cry and stumbled back while Rider forgot Lancer and as quickly as possible slid towards Waver. Meanwhile an army of black spiders materialized next to Waver and jumped at the estimated threat. Smiling the young man with Asian features and black clergyman clothes took out a scroll of paper, opened it and declared:

"**_Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum (Ninety-Five Theses)_**." The spiders stopped attacking him, turned around and instead now crawled towards Rider. Her eyes widened in panic and she dismissed all of them at once. The newcomer raised an eyebrow and took out a small book. Then Rider had reached him, swinging her sword, but missing him as he jumped back.

"Now, see here", he tried to reason while improving the distance between them, "I didn't come to fight…" But his pleas fell onto deaf ears as she summoned her vehicle again. The mouth opened and a cross-fire of macarons was directed towards him. He sighed, took out another book, opened it and said:

"**_Als ich ein kleiner Junge war (Not Everything Seen by Children Should Be Told to Children)_**." Now an interesting phenomena happened. When the macarons reached him, instead of doing any damage, they were _absorbed_ by the book. Aghast Rider stopped firing and the last of the sweets was included into the book.

"Alright!", Saver decided. "Me, not fight! Me, warning! Police coming! Did that go through your thick skull, Rider?!" The mentioned Servant narrowed her eyes, but Waver hold her back.

'I would be dead, if he wanted to kill me', he sent towards her. That was apparently enough to hold her blade, for now.

"What do you mean with the police is coming", Irisviel wanted to know.

"Well, ya don't think with all that riot you are making, nobody's gonna notice?!"

"You underestimate my bounded field", Kayneth arrogantly said, "It is impossible for someone unrelated to notice, yet alone intrude!" Lancer had to resist to palm his face. He just gave him an excuse to get away and he had to botch it up. But the newcomer just shrugged.

"Well, I am here right?" Everybody froze, as they figured out the meaning of this words. There was no way this guy wasn't a Servant, so that would mean…

"…don't tell me, _you_ did call them?!", Saber voiced out, what everybody was thinking.

"What? How did you came to that conclusion? I never said that!" His amusing tone stood in contradiction to his words.

"Lancer, we are going!", Kayneth told his Servant, who suppressed a sigh and turned to spirit form. Finally he was saying something intelligent! Waver, too, urged Rider to leave.

"You can fight another time", he tried to reason with her. "We absolutely mustn't let anyone notice!" Reluctantly she let the spider-like construct fade into air and turned her footgear into the wheelchair. Waver sighed relieved, while Saver raised an eyebrow. And he wasn't the only one, who was surprised at the interesting choice of civil attire. And more than one involved thought about the crutch of the Assassin-killing Servant.

With Lancer and Rider gone, the only Servants left were Saber and Saver – and the Assassin hiding on the crane. But before Saber followed his Master's order to retreat, he wanted to clear something first.

"Did you really just called the police, knowing very well that if they were to watch this battle, we would have to kill them?!" One could clearly tell that he wasn't satisfied with the newcomer's course of action. This was something he couldn't tolerate. Bringing innocent into a fight that wasn't theirs. But to his surprise the other Servant just looked at him as if he said the most insane thing on earth.

"Are you kidding?", he asked. "Summoning the police would be a sure-fire way to get the supervisor mad at ya. So, no thanks." For a short moment Saber was silent. Then he smiled.

"I see. Even though our goals differ, as long as it has the same result, I won't mind, would you?"

"No, not really."

"Good. I'll be looking forward to seeing you again. I can tell that you are quite the interesting one."

"Well, thank you, I could say the same 'bout you, _Saber_. See ya."

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

So, the first Noble Phantasm have been named and just like in the Fate light- and visual novels, every true Noble Phantasm has a title to its name. It's nothing practical, but I had fun creating them and the original had them, so I included them. Although Saver's first Noble Phantasm is probably more known for its title than its name.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	8. Chapter 7: The Aftermath

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you for your review, coronadomontes.

Chapter 7: The Aftermath

"Why did you rushed in just like that?", an outraged Waver wanted to know. His Servant just stayed quiet and refused to meet his eye. That just angered Waver even more. "I told you to wait, until one of them was defeated! Yet you attacked just like that, disregarding anything I said! And what's worse, you left me behind, vulnerable to attacks from all the others! If Saber and that mysterious guy had wanted to, they could have killed me! Just why didn't you listen to me!" Rider still looked down, a sorrowful expression in her eyes, while Waver stared down at her. She looked so fragile. You wouldn't believe this small girl to be a Servant. Waver remembered, how Rider attacked Lancer, after Kayneth threatened him and sighed. How could he be angry, while looking at this child? He sighed again and patted her head. Surprised she looked up. In her eyes were already the first traces of tears.

"Just try to listen a little bit more to me", he asked of her. "And please, don't leave me behind again." Rider jumped up and hugged him, pulling him down onto her futon, refusing to let go. Waver just hoped, the MacKenzie's wouldn't walk in on him right now or it could be pretty ugly, since he was in no position to erase their memories right now.

* * *

Kirei, Risei, Assassin, Volquart and Avenger stood in front of a gramophone that was placed on top of a column. Interested Avenger was inspecting it from top to bottom.

"What's that? And what can it do?", she asked hyper.

"This is something that lets us to contact Tohsaka Tokiomi", he explained patiently.

"Indeed", came his voice out of the gramophone, "but why would you show this to someone else, Risei?" Before the priest could answer, Avenger decided to take the matter into her own hands.

"Tokiomi, right? I am Avenger! Let's get along!"

"So, what, another one?", an annoyed voice made itself known onto the other end. Volquart dragged her away and addressed the Master of Archer himself:

"Greetings, Master Tohsaka. My name is Volquart Weissbach, a magus from the clock tower and the Master of the Servant Avenger. Someone else had been trying to violate the Holy Grail system and through a stroke of luck, I managed to summon my Servant, which saved my life. But I know that I will have no chance to reach the Holy Grail by myself. That is why I propose that we both join forced until all the other Servants are defeated and then let our Servants decide who will win the Holy Grail and reach the Root!" Tokiomi stayed silent for a short period of time, but then accepted.

"Very well, let us proceed this way. I am looking forward to working with you."

"It's a great honor for me."

"Good, now that that's settled, can we go to the real purpose of this meeting and get this over with?!" It seemed, Archer was as impatient as ever.

"If I may", offered Assassin and after an affirmative nod from his Master, he began to summarize the important facts:

"Today we have encountered four Servants. First is Lancer, the one who issued the challenge. He is an Asian teenager and definitely not the King of Conquerors, wielding either a normal spear, a trident or an electrical lance. He claimed the electrical spear is his Noble Phantasm, but I don't think that's necessarily true. Why? Because he didn't issued its name. Further worrying are the other abilities he displayed. A large beam of light, fire, place switching with a voodoo puppet, transforming into a unblockable monster, suddenly shooting skywards or gaining speed, not to forget his ability to see through Saber's invisibility. That is the one, I would think about as the most worrisome. Why? Because it could find someone hiding himself, so it might work against my **Presence Concealment**, too. All in all, I think this Servant is not Lancer, but Caster. Why? Because his great range of unnamed abilities and use of potions. Of course, there is still the question, why a Caster would announce a challenge and not hide within their territory."

"Indeed", added Kirei, "this Servant raises a lot of questions. But for now to Saber…"

"Yes, Saber, the Servant of the Einzbern, who was the first to fight against Lancer. His attire and weapon of choice, a katana, is clearly pointing towards Japanese origin. And opposite to his opponent he used only two abilities: **_Meikyō Shisui_** and **_Kyōka Suigetsu_**. The first allows him to become invisible, the second to create a mirage-like copy. Both of these abilities have similarities to "genjustu" or illusion techniques, as you may call it that are really fitting for someone of the Assassin-Class. Yet it isn't possible for him to be Assassin. Why? Because only one Servant of each class will be summoned in each Holy Grail War and I can assure you that I am indeed, the Servant I claim to be. Still, his sword isn't a normal katana, but one that, after cutting an opponent, stops the wound from healing and rapidly decreases the targets health. The only known counter to that, right now, were the potions, Lancer used. Either Lancer knew this curse and had the right potions ready, or he has a potion against most curses and luckily it worked against this specific one, too. Now someone could argue that Saber might be a Caster in disguise, but he only showed two abilities that both activated only with a certain movement of his sword. It is more likely for him to be a Saver in disguise."

Now Risei interrupted him:

"But that itself is implausible, as the Einzbern are proper Master in this War and already had experienced failure with an irregular Servant. They wouldn't try that this time again."

"So, leaving Saber aside for now, the next would be Rider, a small girl with blond hair and again Asian features. This one is the most likely to really be the Servant as claimed. Why? Because her footwear of choice had been wheels, her civilian attire had been a wheelchair and she summoned a hug spider-like construct with wheels. Furthermore, the way Rider's Master addressed her, leaves little room for doubt. Rider's Master seems also to share an interesting relationship with the Master of Lancer. From what I have concluded, he stole Kayneth summoning catalyst, but still didn't managed to summon Alexander the Great and instead became the Master of that girl. The Servant in question didn't took gently to him threatening her Master to the point, where she focused only on Lancer, even contradictory ignoring her own Master's safety, something that is definitely going to cost her her Master in this war. Rider's abilities include summoning an army of small spiders and the aforementioned construct, fully or partly, as her shield showed us. The construct itself is capable of unpredictable movements and shooting sweets bigger than a human. All in all, even if it is clear that she is a Rider, she is still an unusual Servant."

"Which leaves only the last one", continued Kirei.

"Right, the mysterious priest. The one we don't even know the class from. We only know that his features are Asian with white hair and he is wearing black and red priest clothes. That and his two Noble Phantasm. One of them being…"

"…**_Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum (Ninety-Five Theses)_**, associated to Martin Luther", finished Kotimine Kirei for him. How would he not know about it? Martin Luther was one of the most famous monks in Christian history. And with hearing the name, all assembled Servants got the information about him from the Holy Grail. Martin Luther was a German catholic monk, who wasn't satisfied with how the church made money from its believers and spoke against that. He strongly distributed his opinion that atonement for one's sins should be given free and not bought. This lead to the Protestant Reformation and the splitting of the Christian Church. His Ninety-Five Thesis were the arguments he wrote down. And the mysterious priest used them as a Noble Phantasm. The logical conclusion would be, the real identity of the priest being Martin Luther…

"…but Martin Luther had clearly been German origins", Assassin refuted this theory. "And even if we assume that through some special circumstances he now has a different appearance, there is still his second Noble Phantasm: **_Als ich ein kleiner Junge war_**. No matter how much I look into the legend of Martin Luther, I can't find a book named that way."

"Could it be that's just something he used in life?", Avenger asked. It was possible. More often than not the objects a person used in his past life could be used, when summoned as a Heroic Spirit, even if they weren't on the same level as Noble Phantasm. They were just treated the same way as their clothes.

"That is indeed possible", Assassin admitted. "And it would also explain, why he didn't attack Rider's Master, given the chance. Why? Because Martin Luther was averse to taking up arms."

"So, the priest could be Martin Luther. Although you failed yet to mention, what the effects of his Noble Phantasm were."

"Right, forgive me. **_Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum_** was capable of turning Rider's spider-like minions against herself and **_Als ich ein kleiner Junge war_** absorbed the sweets coming out of Rider's construct. Furthermore I don't think that are all of his abilities. Why? Because I could see him carrying a third book in the fight, he didn't used."

"Maybe it's the bible", offered Avenger, "he was famous for that, wasn't he." Kirei thought about that.

"If he is using a bible, he might be capable of materializing 'Black Keys' from its pages, like some members of the Burial Agency. If that were the case he might have other Conceptual Weapons, too." Risei nodded.

"I'll be asking if there are records of Martin Luther joining the Executors", he decided. "If this Servant really is the reformist and a member of the Executors, he might be the additionally summoned Saver, as he would be fitting as someone saving people."

"So", mused Tokiomi. "if he is Saver that would leave only Berserker and Lancer – or Caster, depending on whether the Servant lied about his class or not."

"Please continue with the surveillance of the Master and their Servants, Assassin", Kirei asked of his Servant and soon enough he faded from their view.

* * *

Kayneth was a little disappointed in his Servant. Of course he knew that he was rather good as a Caster, with his **Territory Creation**…

"…but what's the point in having the skill **Double Summon**, when you are weak in your original class?", he asked his Servant, not exactly expecting a satisfying answer.

"Well, excuse me, Master, but not everybody is capable of seeing through illusions!"

"Yes, that was one fact, but why would you want to issue a challenge against everybody, when you were clearly not capable of even keeping up with one Servant?"

"I just didn't want to show all of my abilities on the first day. And who was the one agitating Rider into attacking me without restraint?!"

"So, are you telling me that it is my fault that you lost that badly? Don't make a fool out of me! Your Noble Phantasm couldn't even compare one bit against hers!" Lancer laughed, what irritated Kayneth even more.

"Stop laughing! Your incompetence is clearly no laughing matter!", he demanded.

"Please, Master, tell me, when I used this spear did I ever called out it name?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, what I mean is that I may have used my Noble Phantasm, I never activated it once. That was all its passive effects. Please, Master, what does your Clairvoyance tells you, about my Rank in 'Noble Phantasm'?!" Every Master had another ability granted to them by the Holy Grail. It was the ability, to see the Parameters of all the Servants. "Strength", "Endurance", "Agility", "Mana", "Luck" and "Noble Phantasm". Strength showed physical power, Endurance the tolerance to damage, Agility the speed, Mana the amount of prana one could handle, Luck the amount of Luck one had and Noble Phantasm the strength of one's Noble Phantasm. It was displayed with letters from E to A with E the lowest and A the highest, together with EX for "to high to be ranked". And his Noble Phantasm was ranked…

"A", Sola-Ui answered his question in his Master's stead.

"That's right: A. Do you really think, the ability to produce some little sparks would count as A? Although admittedly the Rank of my spear is only D, but it would still be higher than what you've seen."

"Still, Rank D is not very impressive. Rider's Noble Phantasm has to be at last Rank C!"

"Alone that might wouldn't have been enough, I know, but together with my abilities and summons, I am confident, I could have taken her. I just didn't thought it would be a good idea to go full out at the beginning with other Servants watching! But you had to agitate Rider so much that I had to show a lot bigger variety of attacks, than I actually had wanted. Now no one is going to believe, I am not a Caster in some way! We can only hope, they think I lied about my class and take them by surprise with my spear or when the real Caster shows up, they would disregard my abilities as something not bound to my legend that I showed to keep them guessing about my identity, so that I can take them by surprise with this castle. Our only real advantage is that the other Master and Servants doesn't know about the skill called **Double Summon** and I would like to keep it that way! Get it, _Master_?!"

"You are getting ahead of yourself! You seem to forget who the Master is in this relationship!"

"Seriously, let's face the facts, you are only called Master, because you have those fancy Command Seals on your hand. The one with the greater strategically thinking here is definitely me."

"You dare…"

"Oh, come on, Master, you're always only defeat this, defeat that, strong, weak. Not every battle is won with pure military power. Look at the concept of Assassin, he…" Suddenly Lancer grew silent. Kayneth, who couldn't mold words, because of his outrage at his disrespectful Servant, was surprised at the sudden stop in the talk. His wife too, was rather astonished. He stopped just like that, right in the middle of the sentence.

"What is it, Lancer", Sola-Ui tried to bring him out of his musing and sure enough, registering her voice he turned around to face her. With a loud and excited voice he spoke towards her.

"Assassin!", he exclaimed. "It was Assassin on top of that crane! It all fits! 'Search Eye' only shows what is hidden and it had to be a Servant and not a magus because of the place. Only someone who was still visible would choose that place and being both visible and hidden at the same time just screams **Presence Concealment**! So, it had to be Assassin!"

"But I saw Assassin dying", Solu-Ui objected. "Do you think it was just a trick?" Lancer snorted.

"Wouldn't be the first time someone doesn't stayed dead. You should have seen Dimitri. He feigned his dead while possessing me without me noticing. Imagine my surprise when he appeared again. And copying my ability, that bastard. Well, he shouldn't have. Nasty experience, I can tell you, nasty experience."

"Oh, so what happened to this Dimitri", Kayneth wanted to know. Usually Lancer kept anything hidden that could lead to his identity, but right now he seemed to be in a rather talkative move. And he really wanted to know, what would happen to someone, who tried to copy the abilities of this Heroic Spirit.

"You don't want to know. It had been ugly, _really_ ugly. And painful, not to forget the painful. Well, to be fair, I don't know for sure about the last one, but it _looked_ at last really painful. I mean, his ribcage exploded! That's gotta be painful!"

"Your old enemy aside for now", Sola-Ui interrupted his musings about the grotesque memory, "what shall we do about Assassin?"

"Well, as long as we remain inside this castle, he won't be able to attack us, as he wouldn't be able to get inside unnoticed, even with **Presence Concealment**. So we don't need to fear a surprise attack on the Masters. For now we stay inside our stronghold like a good Caster and wait for the others to take each other out."

"I really don't want to take such cowardly actions", Kayneth said scowling, "but with your skills, that would probably be the best course of action."

* * *

Kiritsugu, Maiya, Saber and Irisviel finally all met in the Einzbern Castle, to discuss their new course of actions. Kiritsugu actually didn't wanted his wife to be part of this military get-together, but there was no way, she would let herself be singled out. Saber had reverted back to his Standard-Form and together they had come to mostly the same conclusions, as Team Tokiomi, with one exception. Saver. They just didn't knew, what this new Servant was going on about. Someone using magical books to fight, would be most fitting under the Caster-class. Yet Lancer was the same. But there could only be one of each class. So, there couldn't be two Caster.

"Maybe Lancer really was, what he claimed to be", suggested Saber. "I mean, I, too, have some abilities that doesn't exactly fit into the Saber class! And he didn't even activated them as his Noble Phantasm!" Saber was right and the gathered people knew it. He was the living – more or less – proof for that.

"What happened to Lancer and his Master?", Irisviel wanted to know. Kiritsugu looked towards Maiya who took out some notes.

"We managed to track down Lancer to his base of operations. As it appears, el-Melloi did buy a house, just for the Heaven's Feel. Although what is worrisome is that he doesn't appear to have brought any furniture for the house or let them deliver to him." This was indeed worrisome. A guy like Kayneth would never forgo his luxury. So, they either had to carry them in some sort of mystical bag or create them somehow themselves.

"But wouldn't that mean that Lancer actually is a Caster?", wanted Saber to know.

"There are no records of el-Melloi being capable of feats like that, so it has to be his Servant", Kiritsugu reasoned.

"But what class would that make the priest?", wondered Irisviel.

"The only ones who we can exclude are Saber, Assassin, Rider and Berserker. That leaves Lancer, Caster and Archer. For now we should focus on finding out the identity of the Servants with the given information. This includes **_Meikyō Shisui_**, **_Kyōka Suigetsu_**, **_Als ich ein kleiner Junge war_** and **_Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum_**. Do we know the locations of Rider's and the priest's Master?"

"Negative", Maiya responded. "They both noticed the familiars following them. Rider destroyed it outright, while the priest used again his Noble Phantasm, so that I had to destroy it myself. If my deductions are correct, it can make any familiar and maybe even other remotely controlled constructs turn against their master. A dangerous ability for any puppet master."

"Do you think this works one Servants, too?", Irisviel asked, looking concerned towards Saber. Kiritsugu thought about it for a moment.

"It is possible, but rather unlikely. He showed it far too freely for it to have such an overwhelming ability. But we should refrain from using any familiars around him."

* * *

"So, how did you like it, Master", Saver asked Akage as they returned to the warehouse they've made their make-shift home. After leaving Akage's parents behind, the next thing on the list was to find a new home. (Saver actually had a real list, but he hadn't been tall enough to read it, when Saver crossed out the first point.) As they had no money, they couldn't just rent a room, but luckily there still was the abandoned warehouse Saver was summoned. They just had to tidy up a little and soon their new base was set. Saver put some paper slips with strange symbols around, proclaiming that they would hide them from their opponents. So far it seemed to work, as they had yet to be visited by any other people.

"It was great!", he answered the question enthusiastically. "They just – zack, wush – and then – bumm, krack. And then the giant spider: Awesome! And then you like a boss: 'Stop!' Incredible! " Saver chuckled.

"Great you liked it. It's good to know that if you're dying, you at last die flashy, right?" This put a damper on Akage's enthusiasm, as Saver effectively got him down to facts.

"Right", he exclaimed. "They are our enemies. They are the ones we have to defeat."

"Well, three of the seven."

"Do you think you can defeat them?"

"All at once? Hardly. But it seems like I have good cards against Rider. Lancer is definitely hiding something, Saber is going to be a pain to hit and Assassin never moved once."

"Assassin?!"

"Yeah, on the crane. You probably were to captivated from the fight to notice him. Now that I think of it, here for you!" He reached inside his coat, took out a small book and gave it towards Akage. He curiously accepted it.

"What's that?", he asked and Saver laughed.

"Why don't you open it?" Quickly Akage followed his lead and uncapped it. He looked at the first page. Unlike novels, which were written in prose, this looked more like a character sheet. On the upper right there was a picture of Saber, or rather his head and shoulders. On his face there was the smug grin he had displayed earlier, too. And next to that…

* * *

**CLASS: ****Saber**

Master: Irisviel von Einzbern

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: B

Endurance: A

Agility: B

Mana: C

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: B

Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Riding:

Skills

Noble Phantasm

**Meikyō Shisui: Ripples on the Surface**

Rank: C; Anti-Army; Range: 0-20; Targets: 200 people

A technique that shifts oneself into the blind spots of ones opponents.

**Kyōka Suigetsu: The Moon Reflected on the Surface of a Puddle**

Rank: B; Anti-Army; Range: 0-20; Targets: 200 people

**_Noble Phantasm #3_**

Rank: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Phantasmal/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-2; Targets: 1

A Japanese katana. After cutting, the sword places a curse on it's victim, forcing it to rapidly losing health and refusing the wound to close.

* * *

Every new topic was written on a new page. The page "Skills" was completely empty except the title.

"Hey is that…", Akage began and Saver nodded.

"A magical book on the Stats of all the Servants you encountered. It gets updated every time you learn something new about a Servant. Handy, isn't it?" Akage nodded and mesmerized read the book further.

* * *

**CLASS: ****Lancer**

Master: Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: C

Endurance: B

Agility: A

Mana: A

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm:

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: C

Cancel spells with a chant below two verses. Cannot defend against Magecraft on the level of _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_.

Battle Continuation: A

Makes possible to fight even with deadly injuries and can remain alive so long as one does not receive a decisive fatal wound.

Skills

Collector: B

The talent to collect high quality goods.

Lancer can collect weapons, magical potions and amulets below B-Rank.

Noble Phantasm

* * *

**CLASS: ****Rider**

Master: Waver Velvet

True Name:

Sex: Female

Strength: C

Endurance: B

Agility: A+

Mana: A

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Riding: A

All creatures but those of _Phantasmal Beast_ and _Divine Beast_-rank can be used as mounts.

Magic Resistance: B

Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Skills

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1_**

Rang: C; Anti-Army; Range: 1-99; Targets: 1000 people

A giant spider-like construct with wheels, capable of high-speed movements and turns. It is also capable of firing an unlimited amount of macaroons from its mouth.

* * *

**CLASS: ****Assassin**

Master: Kotimine Kirei

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: D

Endurance: D

Agility: C

Mana: B

Luck: C

Noble Phantasm:

Class Abilities

Presence Concealment: A+

It is possible to disappear completely and become almost impossible to be detected. However, efficiency will decrease once preparations to attack are taken.

Skills

Noble Phantasm

* * *

"That's funny", Akage commented. "You are depicted, too." He looked closer. "But you are the one, I have most information over." Saver snorted.

"Well, duh, maybe it's 'cause I am your Servant. But be careful! This book depicts everything on the same level of your knowledge. So, even if someone is depicted as a Saber, because he stated, he is one, doesn't mean, it's absolutely true. And some things are ranked lower than what they actually are, because of some sort of circumstances. Take as an example the Noble Phantasm-Parameter. It doesn't show up, unless you see them using one and even then he might still have a Noble Phantasm of a higher rank hidden. So, be careful while using that book!" Akage nodded.

"Thanks, Saver."

"Don't think anything about it. I am just being a good Servant. Now get to bed, tomorrow you are going to have a very taxing day!"

"Yeah, 'day' is good."

"Just go to sleep already!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

This chapter deals with the conclusions that the different parties came to, after the fight. I didn't showed Waver's, since he most likely would come to the same conclusion as others. Tokiomi didn't thought Saver could be Caster, because he didn't thought of Disputatio as a magical book, since he didn't knew about Shakespeare and Andersen. Since Kiritsugu never heard of the 95 theses, he would conclude they are a magical document and thus make him fit for Caster.

The book, I had Akage read, is actually a book that appears within the nasuverse and was the perfect opportunity to show the stats of the Servants that fought. I didn't included Saver, since Akage already knows more than I want the reader to know about this Servant.

This is also the last time I am going to include Akage's book within the chapter. Instead I'll put it in the author notes the next times.

**If you somehow disagree with the stats of the skills and Noble Phantasm, please tell me!** I am not so sure myself and if a lot of people disagree with my choices, I would change it. Of course it would be good, if you give a reason for your choice, too.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	9. Chapter 8: Collector

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews.

**Lamda**: I just didn't thought, with their experiences in life, they would have great Luck as a Heroic Spirit. And the only class who has a high Luck on its class shard, is actually Caster. Lancer is indeed from a video game franchise, I wanted to include a Servant from badly, but he was the one of the few I knew satisfactory, so I didn't took someone more known. If you've read the reviews, someone else figured out his real identity. I already planned for Berserker to fight, but I don't know, if it will be satisfactory.

**Ariados26**: Yes, but I am curious, who didn't watched that anime or read the manga and still managed to figure him out through research.

**ZeroX10**: And we have a winner! Now the only one missing is Avenger.

Chapter 8: Collector

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bacey", a loud noise sounded through the warehouse. Akage shifted and slowly woke up. His nose was greeted with the alluring smell of breakfast. Quickly he washed and clothed himself, before walking into their make-shift kitchen.

"What are you cooking?", Akage asked Saver, who was standing at the stove. He was wearing a red apron which was decorated with some kanji. It read: 'My body is coated in gravy.' Akage had to chuckle, when he saw that.

"I already told you", Saver answered his earlier question, "bacon and eggs. A western-type breakfast."

"Really? I never had a western breakfast before. By the way, where did you got that apron? Did you create it?"

"I collected it. Now sit down and look at the newspaper." Akage was surprised.

"We are getting a newspaper?"

"I meant the one I gave you yesterday. You still have it, don't you." Akage nodded.

"Wait! I am going to get it!" Soon he was back and finally started to eat. Saver took the rolled paper and smoothed it.

"Here!", he said, "I am on the title page!" Saver pushed it towards his Master, who curiously looked at it. Then he frowned.

"I can't read that", he proclaimed and Saver looked at it closer. Then he laughed.

"Sorry, my fault", he exclaimed. "You don't get a gratis translation from the Grail like we Servants!" He took out another book laid it open next to the newspaper and said:

"**_Lutherbibel (So That Even the Uneducated May Hear the Word)_**." At once the empty pages filled with kanji. Loud Akage started to read:

"**Battle at the docks**

Yesterday night a giant battle er-how do you pronounce that?" Saver just took the newspaper and the other book from him and began to read himself:

"**Battle at the docks**

Yesterday night a giant battle erupted at the docks of Fuyuki City. Not just two, but four Servants found their way towards the pier. Attracted by a challenge issued by Lancer one after another three Servants showed up. The first one to arrive was Saber. He and Lancer quickly engaged into combat, both refusing to use their Noble Phantasm at first.

But soon it became clear that Lancer was inferior in pure skill, so he had to result using his Noble Phantasm. It was a spear capable of creating lightning, but we were unable to gather more information on it, as he didn't uttered its name. Saber retaliated using his own Noble Phantasm. First he used **_Meikyō Shisui (Ripples on the Surface)_** that made him invisible, but proved ineffective against Lancer. **_Kyōka Suigetsu (The Moon Reflected on the Surface of a Puddle)_**, his second Noble Phantasm, on the other hand was. It created an illusion of the Knight of the Sword and hid the real one even from the prying abilities of Lancer. This Noble Phantasm, which sure would make every Assassin green with envy, allowed him to score a damaging blow against the Knight of the Lance, as Saber's sword seems to curse everybody it cuts. We couldn't deduce the type of curse, but it put Lancer in a mild panic and made him use some curse-lifting potion at once.

But before we could witness how the battle between these two would turn out, Rider appeared and attacked Lancer with sword, shield and boots with wheels. Now Lancer used a great variety on abilities to escape Rider's onslaught, before the latter was stopped by Saber, who wanted to finish the fight with Lancer. Now Rider's Master showed up and it was soon revealed that he stole the catalyst that was originally owned by the Master of Lancer and after the latter threatened the thief, Rider attacked Lancer with new fury, completely disregarding her own Master, while summoning a spider-like construct, possible her Noble Phantasm. It was capable of high-speed movements and shooting oversized macarons, a type of sweet.

Lancer again used a variety of abilities, until the fourth Servant showed up. Unlike the others he didn't gave clues towards his class. He just showed up next to Rider's Master, promptly redirecting the Servants ire towards him, yet when she summoned an army of smaller spiders, he used a document called '**_Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum (Ninety-five Theses)_**' and made them turn against their owner. And when she used her construct, he took out a book called '**_Als ich ein kleiner Junge war (Not Everything Seen by Children Should be Told to Children)_**' which absorbed the macarons. Now in an incredible faint he stopped all the fighting, as he made it look like, he summoned the police towards the place, putting an end towards all combat activity. The whole time the fight had been witnessed by Assassin, who never once moved to intervene.

Now dear readers, this concluded the first great battle in the fourth Heaven's Feel and there are still more questions than answers. Who is this mysterious Servant? How did Assassin survive? Please be sure to read our next edition, as this Holy Grail War is definitely going to be interesting!"

Akage just looked aghast at Saver.

"But that's exactly what happened yesterday!", he exclaimed. "Even though you gave me the paper before they even started! Is it a self-writing newspaper?"

"Yep. **_The Daily Universal Register (The Londoner Times)_**. It would be a really great Noble Phantasm, if it wouldn't come so delayed. And if it isn't finished until midnight, you have to wait another day for it to appear in this newspaper!"

"But if you knew that it would be written, then why did you even bring me to the port? We could have stayed home and read it all today."

"That's true in a sense. **_The Daily Universal Register_** gives you information about what occurred. But that's it. It doesn't depict, how insanely strong and fast Servants really are. How serious Rider was trying to end Lancer. It neither went into detail about Lancer abilities. I can tell you, first-hand experience is always better than second-hand one. You understand?"

"Yes. Yes, I do. Please, let us continue our training. As it stands now, I wouldn't even be able to survive an encounter with any Servant. So, please let us continue our training." Saver smiled.

"We can continue as soon as you are ready."

"I am ready!"

* * *

Kariya awoke from his make-shift bed, if you could call it that way. Since summoning his Servant and leaving the Matou residence, he had been constantly on the move, to make it harder for an enemy Master to track him down. He, too, had felt Lancer's challenge and had made his way towards the docks. But he had had no intention of accepting. Not yet anyway. But he had hoped that the Servant of Tokiomi would show up. That was the second of his goals: To defeat Tokiomi! What father would give his own daughter to the likes of Zouken?! What kind of father would willingly give his daughter away, at all?!

When he had seen Aoi happily engaged with Tokiomi, he had decided to give up on gaining her affection, but he had never thought that Tokiomi would hurt her and her children that badly. He would definitely save Sakura and reunite her with her mother and sister. And for that he would kill Tokiomi. And if the mountain won't come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.

* * *

"Big!", exclaimed Avenger, when she first saw the Tohsaka mansion. Volquart wasn't as surprised as she was. He had seen palatial residences before, after all, his sister was living in one. And he had to visit her more times than he would have liked.

"Good evening!", Tokiomi personally greeted the newcomers, "I, Tohsaka Tokiomi, welcome you to my home. Let us together reach the origin of all existence!"

"Hi, I am Avenger and this is my Master! Where's Archer?"

"Inside", Tokiomi explained. "He is resting."

"Why would a Servant needs to be resting?", Avenger wondered out load, but when her Master thought back at how the Servant had reacted to them, he could guess, why he would "need" to rest. It was kind of funny. Tohsaka got a Servant who doesn't wanted to fight and he got a Servant who was way to eager to fight. But at last he found a reason and way to fight. Although he really would liked to know, why Archer did respond to the summon, when he saw fighting as just a bother.

* * *

"Do we have everything?", Saber asked his "aunt" while they were shopping.

"I think we still need some udon", Irisviel answered, happily carrying grocery bags. Grocery shopping had always been was of the things, she had wanted to do and so Saber had been ready to lead her. Given a map by Kiritsugu he quickly found the corresponding places. And while he guided her, Irisviel demanded to carry the bags herself. At the beginning. But soon enough she tired and Saber had to bear the weight. Yet the whole time, Irisviel never once lost her good mood and cheerfully walked beside her Servant. But suddenly a little girl ran into him, nearly knocking him down.

"Ah, I am sorry!", she quickly apologized, bringing some distance between them. "I wasn't looking where I was going!" Saber looked at her closer. She had blond hair and was wearing a black jacket with a hood that had two appendages, looking like snakes. At the front of the jacket there was a white symbol, resembling a circle with a vertical line inside. She wasn't wearing any shoes or skirt, but at last he didn't has to find out, if she was wearing no panties, as the jacket was long enough to cover her bosom.

"Don't worry about it", Saber responded. "But why were you in such a hurry?!" Her face took a panicking expression.

"Oh, no, I am late!" Quickly she ran off. Saber just looked after her bewildered. From her attire he had thought of her as a Servant, but he couldn't feel any prana from her. And she couldn't be Assassin, as his appearance was already known. So, no matter what his instinct said, she had to be human. Yet something told him that this wouldn't be the last time, they would met.

Caster was surprised. When she had seen Saber's Master walking carefree down the street, she had been aghast. Shouldn't she a bit more careful? Or did she really thought that she wouldn't be attacked, because it was still daytime and in a crowd?! Gullible fool! But to her luck she really didn't want to arouse that much attention, yet and so the woman would live.

But what interested her more, was the nephew she had brought with her. They didn't look alike at all and for a moment she had thought that this boy was actually Saber in disguise. But when you thought about it logically, what were the chances?! You could explain nearly every difference in his appearance with make-up and similar, but how was someone supposed to be able to change their height? He had to be a Caster-class Servant for something like that. But to be sure she took a gamble. She interacted only seconds with this boy and she could already tell, he wasn't Saber. But since he was the nephew of Saber's Master, she would kill him later on regardless.

* * *

"Oh, there you are!", Avenger exclaimed, "have you been here this whole day?" In front of her on a red couch was Archer resting, just like Tohsaka had told them. Slowly the white-haired Servant opened his eyes and looked at the intruder.

"Cheh. What do you want?", he asked her, his voice clearly showed his annoyance.

"Oh, nothing big. I just thought, we should get to know each other a little better, now that we will fight together." Archer snorted.

"You sure you want to do that? Even if we are allies right now, we are still going to fight against each other over the Holy Grail. Do you want to become friends, just to kill each other later on?" She became quiet.

"Maybe you are right", she admitted, "but I still would like to talk a little."

"Tch. You are an idiot, you know." He sighed.

"Then what the hell do you want to know?"

"Ehm." After his initial response she hadn't thought it would be that easy to make him talk, so first she didn't knew what to say. But then… "Is your hair natural? I thought, human usually didn't have that hair color!?"

"So, you never heard of an albino?"

"Albino?"

"Short, an albino refers to someone who doesn't have any pigments in his skin, hair and eyes. It doesn't matter if there are human or any other kind of animal. I could get technical, but that's the gist of it."

"Oh, I see. Then you are human." She sounded a little disappointed and he raised an eyebrow.

"What? You aren't?" But before she could answer, he tensed and put his hand towards his choker, activating a switch that was on it. His choker was actually an electrode, helping him with calculations. And to use his ability in battle he had to switch the mode, just as he did now. And the reason for that was the fast approaching enemy, he could feel. A Servant. He suddenly shot into the air, bursting through the roof as if it wasn't there. He looked at the Servant who didn't even got slowed down by the barriers that Tokiomi had around the mansion. And he wasn't even using any ability, just raw power.

"Well, this guy doesn't looks like he's human", he commented about the arriving Servant, who ran through the air, as Avenger jumped next to him onto the roof with one leap.

"But what class?", Avenger wanted to know.

"▄█▀██▄▀█", the Servant roared.

"Guess that answers that question", Archer stated and suddenly four black vortexes burst from his back. This Servant was too strong to fight using normal methods. Avenger just looked surprised at his back. Wings?! And indeed, from her point of view they really looked like wings made out of wind.

"▀██▄▀█", roared Berserker again and shot towards Archer, swinging his black sword.

"Kill them all", ordered his Master, who was watching from below, as the crest worms inside his body wriggled under his skin.

Berserker slashed his sword down and smashed the roof, but both of the Servants had already evacuated the spot. Archer had flown into the sky, while Avenger had jumped aside. The latter quickly turned around to punch the mad Servant, but he turned around even quicker, giving her a kick that sent her flying. In a nosedive Archer was soaring towards Berserker. His eyes sparkling mad and his mouth distorted into a menacing sadistic grin.

"Hjeeeehehehehe", he was laughing like a maniac as he thrust his fist towards his opponent.

"▀█▀█▄█▀", howled Berserker and swung his sword around. Weapon and skin collided and Archer was blown away. But Berserker didn't waited for him to land. With some sort of static noise he disappeared and reappeared just above Archer, ready to slice him in half. But before the sword could hit him, the black vortexes erupted in a blast of even greater wind, sending Archer up, hitting the mad Warrior. Now suddenly Berserker was pushed up high into the sky.

Archer used this short break to regain his bearings. For the sword to not break by touching him, there could be only one explanation: the occult. Fuck. Why does the Heaven's Feel had to be a fucking magical battle? The vortexes suddenly vanished and in their stead two black wings erupted from his back. Not unsteady like the wind, but hard like metal, yet they didn't shimmer, but were dark as shadows.

"█▄█▀▄▀█▀" Right on time Berserker showed up in front of him again, but this time, Archer didn't move at all. Instead the wings on his back split into infinite ends and shot towards his opponents like living beings. But Berserker swung his sword, destroying them with ease, while advancing at the same time. Yet Archer didn't stopped as more and more black lances attacked the Servants, but every time they would be cut down faster and faster.

Archer clicked his tongue. Usually a Berserker shouldn't care about getting hit, but this guy seemed to have an especially high **Instinct** that allowed him to react to danger as if he was sane! Within moments he made his way towards Archer, but before the mad Servant reached the Knight of the Bow an angry voice shouted:

"Don't count me out yet!" With all her might Avenger jumped towards her enemy, as he suddenly vanished with a static noise, the black lances hitting thin air, and reappeared directly above her.

"▄▀█▀█▄█▀", he roared and swung his sword down at her. Deftly she brought her hands up and captured the blade right between the palms of her hand so vigorously that the blade started to crack. Left and right beside her the air was pushed away from the shock of the attack so strongly that it resulted in craters at the ground. Strained she lead the blade past her, spun around in the air and kicked Berserker in the face, the force big enough to sent him flying through the air. She did a back flip and landed on all fours, before running after her adversary. The foe in question had already regained his bearing, even his sword had repaired itself. He looked at the charging Avenger and between his horns suddenly a glowing red orb appeared. It became bigger and bigger.

"Get out of there, you idiot!", Archer shouted as suddenly Berserker disappeared from their sight again and reappeared directly behind Avenger. Panic showed in her eyes, as she turned around, but it was too late. The red orb was released into a bright red wave of destruction, disintegrating everything in its path. When the light vanished there was no trace of Avenger.

"Hahaha", Kariya laughed madly looking at the fight in front of him. "Look, Tokiomi, who is the failure now! You with your lineage are getting bested by my make-shift thaumaturgy! Hahahaha – cough, cough." He stopped laughing, as he vomited blood. The crest worms inside of him took their toll, as his Servant was continuously using his mana.

* * *

"This is bad", Saver conducted on top of his flying book. "If this continues, people will notice that something is happening!"

"Then what should we do?", Akage asked concerned.

"Well, catch!" Instinctive he brought up his hand to fetch whatever his Servant just threw at him, when suddenly…

"Ouch!" He let go of the object Saver had thrown as he had stabbed himself. The item was sharp and looked like a pointed stick wrapped with strings.

"Good, it worked!", Saver exclaimed and took out a book. "**_Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Once Upon a Time)_**."

"What was that for?!", Akage demanded to know.

"I just put everyone without magecraft in this city to sleep. Since you are not a girl, yet a princess, they will wake up tomorrow. But they won't wake up while Berserker is going wild. Now let's go and visit the Asterion-look-alike!"

* * *

"_Avenger! By the power of this Command Seal I order you, to come to me!_"

"Where am I?", Avenger wondered and looked around. She was standing in front of the Tohsaka mansion and next to her…

"Good, you are alright!", Volquart let out relieved. "For a moment I thought, I wouldn't make it." She looked at him perplexed.

"How? Wait!", a thought struck her and she looked towards the hand of her Master. The red lubrication in place of the missing key of the key ring confirmed her suspicions. "You used a Command Seal, to save me?! Why?!" He laughed dryly.

"That's a stupid question", he opined. "If you are dead, who will fetch me the Holy Grail?!"

Avenger didn't know, what to say. Tears threatened to fill her eyes and she quickly wiped them off. This words meant more to her than anything else, because it finally meant that he had accepted her as his Servant! Even though he had said, he would team up with Tokiomi to reach the Holy Grail, in her subconscious, she still had believed, he would have been content with just serving the other Master. His actions clearly indicated his inferiority towards him. But now with this words it was clear that he was not just content with helping someone reach the root, but would do everything to be the one himself! That meant, he would finally help her getting her dearest wish fulfilled.

"Yes. Master", she shouted firm, "I will definitely bring you the Grail!" She jumped again on top of the roof. Archer was soaring through the sky, with his black wings trying to keep Berserker at bay.

"Hey, ugly!", Avenger screamed and jumped into the air, getting the attention of both other Servants. Archer was mildly surprised and Berserker just rushed at her again.

"▄▀▄█▀▄▀█" This time he didn't even swung his sword and instead stroked with his fist, which she blocked with her arm. Now they were both sending a fury of punches and in his case sword strikes at the other. It was a rather interesting sight. Even though it was a mid-air fight, it was different from others. Berserker had an ability, which allowed him to stay on top of the air, as if it was solid ground, called **Air Dance**. So, he should have the upper hand against someone who couldn't fly or levitate.

But not with her. As Avenger she had no class skill and she had only one personal skill. But this one was **Acrobatics**. It allowed her movements in mid-air greatly above a normal Servant, which made her more dangerously in the air than on the ground. Now you could argue that every Servant was capable of movements in mid-air. Well, that just showed you how good hers were, when she had them noted as a skill. So each of her rolls, back flips and somersaults where as dangerous as a sledgehammer. All while she was using her opponents attacks to keep herself in mid-air.

Yet she couldn't dominate the fight. Every blow she stroke connected, but only because her opponent was a Berserker. And that was the problem. **Mad Enhancement**. Berserker's class skill. And it was exactly what it sounded like. Exchanging your sanity against higher parameters. Berserker didn't care about any damage they would take, but he didn't need to worry about that, as Avenger had to constantly evade the onslaught of his attacks. And the only reason why she was actually capable of evading them were her skill and the fact that the mad Berserker didn't thought about stepping back and using the reach of his blade.

Suddenly Berserker disappeared and just a moment later black blades occupied the same room Berserker had been before. Without thinking Avenger grabbed onto them and surprisingly they turned from sharp blades to smooth poles. As if they had planned this the black wings shot towards Berserker's new location, together with Avenger. And this time they didn't attack him outright, but instead provided platforms and rods for Avenger to jump between them, like a monkey.

"█▄█▀▄▀█▄█▀", roared Berserker and madly cut after the fast-moving Avenger. But every time she was able to block with her fists and every time she did that his katana cracked a little. It repaired itself quickly after, but it was a sign that something in her legend was making her punches more effective against his sword.

"▀█▄▀▀█▄▀█", he howled again, but this time instead of attacking he vanished once more. Avenger grabbed the next rod and in a swift movement landed on top of it.

"Where is he?", she wondered looking around, when suddenly the black wings coiled around her upper waist.

"Wa?", she shouted out, as she was jerked back. But this allowed her to glance above her, where Berserker stood there, a red orb between his horn.

'Damn', was all, what she thought, when the orb exploded again.

"**_Als ich ein kleiner Junge war (Not Everything Seen by Children Should Be Told to Children)_**." Suddenly the path of the energy wave changed towards the side. It hit a certain book and was absorbed inside of it. Both Avenger and Archer knew this book. They had never seen it, but they had heard of it from Assassin. And so they knew the owner.

"Saver?", Avenger said unbelieving. The priest in question waved towards them.

"Hi there", he greeted. "I would like to stop and talk…" He didn't even got to finish his sentence as Berserker roared again and charged towards the next threat. Within the blink of an eye, Saver had dismissed his book and instead took out two others.

"**_Desconhort (On the Superiority of Reason)_**!" But before Saver even uttered the first syllable of the next one, Berserker suddenly stopped.

"█▄█▀██▄▀▀█▄██▀█▄█▀█▄▀█▀█▄█▄▄▀█▀█▄▀█▀" Berserker started howling even worse than before. He was bending over backwards and his left hand gripped his left horn. Suddenly crack started around his neck, going down all the way to the hole in his chest. Then suddenly he ripped his bull face away, revealing under it skin that had actually the peach color of skin and brown eyes. His hole in the chest got filled with a white substance and all over his body cracks appeared. Suddenly the white skin burst and under it was a black kimono with a red-rosary-like strap across his chest. His black sword vanished and suddenly appeared on his back, but it looked different. Its blade was wider and it was wrapped in white bandages. His eyes clear and devoid of madness he said to someone who wasn't there:

"Don't go around deciding things on your own again, bastard!"

"What the hell!" Everybody thought that, but only one voiced these thoughts. Surprised Archer turned around to face Saver, who had an even more flabbergasted expression. His eyes bulged out, his mouth wide open. How come that the one who used the Noble Phantasm, was the one most surprised? Berserker ignored them all and was mumbling to himself:

"Seriously, in what kind of situation did you brought us now! Holy Grail War?! You've got to be kidding me!" Then he suddenly noticed the state his Master was in. Providing mana for Mad Enhancement together with two attacks that were clearly above B-Rank, had been too much for the last-minute magus to keep consciousness. Quickly he ran towards Kariya and picked him up. He still didn't knew everything about what's happening, but even he knew that he had first get this man to a safe place and treat him. So just as quickly as he had attacked, he vanished.

"Alright, that had been unexpected", Saver commented as he put away his books and turned towards the other Servants., especially Avenger. "But it's certainly interesting how you found out my class. I can't remember telling anyone."

"Tch. Just a lucky guess. Putting that aside, what the hell do you want?" Archer didn't thought for one moment, he was just here to chat. And if it came to a fight, he would prefer, if it was, before his thirty minutes were over.

"Oh, I? Just stopping a fight!"

"I can see that! But why? Why are you so content on getting in our way and stopping the fights?!"

"Now, that's not nice saying to someone who just drove away your enemy. I am just doing my job as a Saver. You know, I am like the extra enemy that appears when you set the difficulty to lunatic. Making it harder for you to finish this Heaven's Feel."

"Is that so?" Archer didn't buy that excuse for a moment. He was hiding something. In his life Archer had to deal with a lot of shady people and businesses, resulting in his skill **Discernment of the Poor**, which let him see through his opponents true nature, giving enough information.

"Well, I am also rather curious about your friend there." Avenger pointed surprised at herself.

"Me?"

"Yeah. You know, we have already seen Assassin, Saber, Lancer, Rider and Berserker. That leaves Caster and Archer. But none of those classes really fit at you. You fight with your fists, not with a weapon or magic. And even if we take a lot at all the other classes that are already taken, you don't really fit into any of them, to be exact. So, what class are you?"

"Em…", she shifted nervously. "am I am not supposed to hide that from my enemies?" Saver laughed.

"True, true, well then, I'll be off."

"Wait a minute!", Archer stopped him.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"There is something I wanted to ask you as well."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Are you Martin Luther?"

"Oho, you have figured out my identity? Congratulations."

"Tch. Cut the crap", he demanded annoyed. "You can't be him!"

"Why? I think I fulfill a lot of the requirements to be him!"

"First you are using fucking way to much different Noble Phantasm for one Heroic Spirit and your surprise while using **_Desconhort_**, your 'own' Noble Phantasm betrayed you. These aren't your real Noble Phantasm. No, you are a damned collector." Avenger looked surprised, while Saver smiled rather satisfied.

"Oh, you really figured it out. Yes, I have **Collector** A+, a skill that allows me to draw goods towards me and keep them. But it only works on books and documents or other things that are containers of knowledge, but it _works_ even on Noble Phantasm, making it hard for everybody to figure out my identity. Even my appearance in not real. So, good luck finding out my true name." He waved towards them, turned around and walked away.

"Wow, you are really perceptive!", Avenger exclaimed in awe, but Archer shrugged it off.

"Not really", he said and jumped. Right through the devastated roof onto the red couch. But there he didn't laid down and instead took out some kind of gadget. Luckily as a Heroic Spirit he wasn't dependent on the network to walk, but he still needed to switch the mode on the electrode if he wanted to fight. And he still had a time limit until it was depleted. But as a Heroic Spirit he didn't need power to charge his battery, but still had to use the same gadget, even if it wasn't necessary to plug it in.

"What are you doing?", Avenger, who followed him, asked interested.

"I am charging the battery of my music player", he lied. Even if they fought together he would never forget his objective.

"Really?! Is this some kind of music player that makes you stronger the louder the music is?!"

"Where the hell did you got that idea from?!"

"Don't know, just appeared in my mind."

"Avenger, are you alright?" Volquart went into the room, followed by Tokiomi.

"Yes", she shouted, "but seriously this Berserker is so strong! I don't think I can take him alone!" She turned to Archer. "But we are a really good team. Don't you think so, too?!" Archer snorted.

"Yeah. The next time I fight together with someone with 'Violent Doughnut' I am going to remember it.

"DOUGHNUT?" He looked surprised at Avenger whose eyes looked dreamily and… was she drooling?

"That has to be the worst cosmic joke ever", Archer exclaimed. "Someone with Violent Doughnut having fucking doughnuts as his favorite foot?"

"Of course! After all, doughnuts are the treasure of the real world!" Real world?

"Avenger, you didn't answer my question from earlier", Archer noted. "Are you human?" Avenger shifted uncomfortable. Without the knowledge about this era, she had received from the Grail, she would probably have talked without restraint about her nature. But now…

"That's not possible", Tokiomi stated. "Only humans can become Heroic Spirits."

"Actually, he is right." Avenger butted in. "I am not human. I may be summoned as a Heroic Spirit, but no matter how you look at it, I am not a human."

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Remember how I said something about a lucid Berserker? Well, looks like we got one now. Although, when I decided to keep a berserk Berserker, I hadn't yet created that Noble Phantasm, but after that I thought, why not?

Regarding Saver, we hear now that he definitely is not Kotomine Shirou. He just took on his appearance.

And just like promised, here are the Servant parameters, except for Berserker, because after he lost his Mad Enhancement, his whole skill set was shuffled anew.

Also, most importantly: From my latest reviewers like **Legend Storyteller** and **Planeshunter** it has come to my attention that my interpretation of Archer's Noble Phantasm is not entirely correct. I apologize for that. Usually I would change that but considering how many chapters I already wrote and how often he fights with his ability, I don't know how to change that without completely rewriting half of the story. I hope you enjoy Fate One Savior regardless.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS: Avenger**

Master:

True Name:

Sex: Female

Strength: A

Endurance: E-

Agility: D

Mana: E-

Luck: E-

Noble Phantasm: D

Class Abilities

None

Skills

Acrobatics: A

Is the ability to use acrobatic feats in air combat.

Additionally the Agility of Avenger is raised by two ranks, as long as Avenger is airborne.

Noble Phantasm

* * *

**CLASS: ****Archer**

Master: Tohsaka Tokiomi

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: E

Endurance: B

Agility: E

Mana: E

Luck: C

Noble Phantasm:

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: B

Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Independent Action: A+

Servant can remain in this world indefinitely even without a Master. However, in order to activate his Noble Phantasm, it is necessary to first acquire an extra supply of prana from alternative sources.

Skills

Eye of the Mind (True): C

Capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. So long there is even a 5% chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning.

Discernment of the Poor: A

He will not be deceived by excuses and deceptions from words.

Noble Phantasm


	10. Chapter 9: Demons

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you for your review, Coronadomontes.

Chapter 9: Demons

"Actually, he is right. I am not human. I may be summoned as a Heroic Spirit, but no matter how you look at it, I am not a human. My name is Merry Nightmare and I am a dream demon!"

Tokiomi couldn't believe his ears. Demon. The sixth imaginary element. Beings born out of the wishes of humans and given form. They respond to the wishes of human and in exchange took their pain. The Holy Church dispatches Exorcists to deal with them, since a demon would disrupt the natural flow, possess humans and, when they fully matured, distort the outer world. But once that happened, there was no helping the human in question anymore. No Exorcist could banish a fully matured demon, so the Executors had to destroy both the demon and the host together.

Archer didn't seemed to be faced by this revelation in the slightest.

"A demon, huh? Great. After angels it's now fucking demons. What's next? Aliens?! But you don't look like a demon, not from the knowledge, the freaking Grail put inside of me."

"Yes, I am kind of a special case… Wait! You've met angels?!" Tokiomi didn't thought that was something special. For a normal human maybe, but there were a lot legends about heroes meeting and receiving gifts from angels or other Divine Spirits. Some of them were even children of gods! So for a Heroic Spirit that was not that much. Especially since Archer had no **Divinity** or **Divine Protection**. If you looked at his skill **Actions against the Church** it was more likely that he wasn't on their good side. It could even be the reason how he got killed in the first place. Volquart apparently didn't thought that as something remarkable, too.

"I would prefer to know, what do you mean, with being a special case", he demanded. Understandable, as finding out that your Servant actually isn't a human spirit but a demon does induce a great shock.

"Well", she tried to explain. "I don't know what happened, but someday I was in the real world without any memories of my previous life or knowledge on how to get back. All that's left were my hat, my clothes and the unquenchable desire to go home. Opposite to all other dream demons I was incarnated with my body, not within a vessel or my garden." What? A named demon with no vessel and… what was the last one? Garden?

"With garden… do you mean 'Reality Marble'", Volquart wanted to know and Merry pondered about it.

"Yes", she finally said, "they are nearly the same." A Reality Marble. Materializing one's inner world and projecting it onto reality following the 'World Egg theory'. Only a handful humans are said to have achieved this in the whole history of mankind. But that was different for demons. Together with their 'alien common sense of demons' a Reality Marble was supposed to be the natural ability of demons. For a demon to not have one… it was unthinkable! Yet again, if you didn't knew it, you wouldn't think of Avenger as a demon at all. She was after all human enough to be summoned as a Heroic Spirit, even if it was an irregular one. Now thinking about it…

"…I never asked you what you wanted to wish from the Holy Grail." That's right. What would someone, whose role was it to fulfill wishes, want from a wish-granting device?

"I want to go back home!", she answered truthfully. "Since that fateful day I had done nothing else than trying to go back home. But it's something that no one can help me with. The Holy Grail is my last hope!" Volquart patted her on top of the head.

"Don't worry", he told her. "We are going to get the Holy Grail!"

"Tch. Don't think for a moment that we will just stand around and let you freaking have it!", Archer proclaimed. "Once we defeated all the others, we are going to fight for it!"

"Thank you", Avenger sniffed. Tohsaka tried hard to keep an emotionless expression. This scene in front of him reminded him of his daughters… no daughter! You gave Sakura away! You only have one daughter anymore! It is for the best! Even though he had told that to himself again and again, until he himself believed it, a small spark of uncertainty started to build up inside of him.

* * *

"Where am I?" Kariya slowly woke up. He didn't knew what happened. The last thing he remembered was Berserker beating Archer and then… black.

"You alright, uncle?" Kariya looked to his side. There stood a Japanese teenager, looking a little bit concerned. "You look worse than I and I've been the one fighting. Or rather, it had been 'him'."

"Him?"

"My inner Hollow. He doesn't have a name. He just keeps doing what he wants to." Hollow? Empty. Nothingness. Hole. _Berserker_?!"

"You are Berserker?!"

"I guess, but seriously. Accepting something like that Holy Grail War out of the blue…"

"Don't you have any interest in the Grail?"

"No. Not really. I mean, nearly everybody has some things they wish for. A happy life. Money. Fame. Resurrection of your loved ones. Something like that. But I'm not someone to lament about the past. Sure, I'd like to have my mother back, but I don't think the Holy Grail is the answer. And destroying six – no twelve wishes, just to get my own? Isn't that a little selfish? What makes you participate in this war?"

"I am going to save Sakura!"

"Sakura? I see. You want to save someone you hold dear, even in such a state. We sure have a lot in common, don't we? If that's the case, I don't really have a choice, don't I? Alright! I promise you to get you the Holy Grail, so you can save that person."

"Thank you. I am Matou Kariya. What's your name?

"Kurosaki Ichigo, Substitute Shinigami." So, Kurosaki… Ichigo... that didn't told him anything. Wait! Death God?!

* * *

"Saver?!" Waver Velvet couldn't believe his eyes. First he had seen Berserker with some ridiculous high stats, capable of dealing with two Servants at once. Well, considering the parameters of them it was actually more surprising that these two were capable of standing up against him. And none of them looked like Archer. What's more, as Berserker was fighting two Servants at once, it increased the sum of all Servants to eight! And then the mysterious priest revealed the secret: He was a freaking _Saver_! Not one of the seven original classes, but one extra! According to him, his only purpose was, to make it more difficult to finish the Heaven's Feel. A rather doubtful explanation. But maybe he didn't wanted any wish and was just fighting in the Holy Grail War just for fun. It wasn't impossible. Some might just want to fight against the strongest heroes, they didn't got the chance in real life, because they lived too far apart or in different ages.

What was more concerning was that there _was_ an eight Servant where their only should have been seven. Furthermore the other fact about Saver that came to light: He was a _collector_! Usually one Heroic Spirit had one Noble Phantasm, a symbol of their legend. And Noble Phantasm were so powerful, because they indeed were crystallized legends, gaining power over the course of time. Someone like him could have an infinite number of them, making it not just nearly impossible to identify him, but also someone, who might have a Noble Phantasm for every single opponent and situation! He was capable of breaking the **Mad Enhancement** for god's sake!

The only ray of hope was that he apparently could only collect books. Still, two of the books he displayed were the exact counters for two of Rider's abilities. Adding an unlimited number of other books, he probably would have to team up with someone, if he wanted to defeat Saver. His old teacher was out of question, Tohsaka already had a partner and the Matou… were not to find. That left the Einzbern. But that still meant he had to figure out, how to approach them. It might be a good move for two Master to team up and defeat a stronger opponent, but helping an opponent Master defeat a Servant who worked especially good against that Master's Servant? Not likely! So, even though he would have to get rid of Saver, there was nothing he could do at the moment. He could only hope, he wouldn't encounter the irregular Servant on the opposite site on the battlefield any time soon.

* * *

Saber was having the most difficult fight since he was summoned into this Holy Grail War. His opponent was a white-haired women in Chinese clothes wielding a long naginata. And she was skilled, scarily skilled. A thrust here, a swipe there, Saber had to use all of his skills and tricks to evade her onslaught. Suddenly, he landed a little bit to close and with one swift movement she impaled him on her spear-like weapon. Saber shattered in a million pieces and in bright red letters appeared: YOU LOST

"I lost again!", Saber lamented and put away his game console. "But you sure are good with this, aunt Irisviel! You sure you have never played this before?!" The wife of his Master chuckled.

"It's like I am a natural!", she claimed. After the revelation the night before, they did what every strategically competent Master would do in this situation: Nothing! The fact that an eight Servant appeared was certainly big news, especially a collector whose whereabouts and motives were unknown. So it was better to wait for others to make a move. But that left them with a lot of free time. And since Irisviel had never played video games that's what they did right now.

"But where is Kiritsugu? Does he really have to do that much?"

"It's… not like that." Her face took on a sad smile. Saber felt her discomfort and decided to drop the topic.

"You don't need to tell me, if you don't want to.", he told her, but she just shook her head.

"It's okay", she told him. "It's just, for Kiritsugu is a person for whom happiness is pain." Saber pondered about that? A person for whom happiness is pain? Someone who can't stand to be happy?! Saber tried to imagine, why a person would feel this way. The only answer he could think of were memories. If he remembered something painful every time he was happy, then he couldn't be truly happy. And if you add that to his wish "world peace"… Did he killed some innocent people and was now regretting it? Nevertheless, he could tell that at his core, his Master was not a bad person. And if he used to be a bad guy that wanted to repent for his sins… he wouldn't deny him this chance. And that's why he looked her into the eye and firmly stated:

"Let's work hard and fulfill Kiritsugu's wish!"

* * *

Akage sighed. He had to buy so many things that it was already getting dark. It had been lunchtime, when he finally woke up – the long nights were too much for his young body to handle – and when he asked, if they could continue with their training, Saver told him that he had to rest, because he used up too much power. (Actually he told him, he didn't wanted to fight without rest until his mana was completely depleted, but that quickly changed in Akage's memory.) The boy had decided to use this opportunity to restock their food and went on a shopping trip. But Saver allowed him to go only if he fulfilled a certain condition: If you got into trouble use a Command Seal to call me to your side. But it had to be really bad trouble. Apparently Saver wanted him to keep the Command Seals in reserve for as long as possible and even promised him to do everything he asked of him, if he would never waste a Command Seal like that.

That was the first time Akage heard, what power the Command Seals actually had over the Servant. Every command, really every command had to be followed. If you used one of those no Servant could withstand your order. But that had uses for the Servant, too. An order, done with the consent of the Servant could power them up incredibly. So a command to appear could even rip through space to make the Servant comply to that wish. So Akage promised, to not to use them lightly.

He stopped in his musings, when he noticed a girl his age with black twin tails and a vermilion jacket looking around as if she was searching for something. Being part of a secret war Akage knew, how dangerous it was for a small child to be outside in Fuyuki at night and so he made his way over towards her and hopefully help her find home.

Now someone could argue that Akage wasn't exactly older and that the people working at the mail should be sent to prison, for letting someone so young do the groceries so late at night without calling the authorities, but thanks to Saver's **_El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha__ (These Are no Windmills)_**, he now had the appearance of a grown-up. To be precise, he had black hair green eyes, glasses and a doctor uniform, containing a black collar long sleeves white shirt with black, gray, and light blue tie and gray sweater vest, white lab coat, black gloves, black pants with gray lines, and black shoes. Why Saver had to suppress a chuckle while he was in this form was beyond him.

"Hello", he greeted the girl. "Do you maybe need some help? I am Akaji Akage." At once she turned around and took some steps back, bringing distance between.

"What do you want", she demanded to know, eyeing him warily. He himself took a step lifted his hands in a protective gesture.

"Wait, wait! I just wanted to help! You know it's not safe out here at night! That's why I thought, I should help you find your way home…" She narrowed her eyes.

"Oh? And who tells me that you aren't the reason that it's dangerous out at night?!" He gasped in shock as he tried to find an answer.

"Good point", he said after some reflections, "but I can't let a girl stay that late at night out all alone…"

'Hey, Saver! Wake up! There is a girl here all alone and I don't know what to do! Can you please come?' Akage tried to contact his Servant over their mental link.

'Oh, a girl? Wow Shirou, you are working quick!'

'I told you I am not Shirou! And what do you mean?'

'Damn Shirou, you are dense. Wait, I come over. Have you asked for her name?' Akage turned his attention back towards her and saw her staring at some golden compass in disbelief. The top of the needle was lighting up red and pointing towards him.

"Oh, what's that?", he asked curious. "And why is it pointing towards me?" He took some steps to the side and the needle was following him.

"Cool!", he exclaimed. "But what is it exactly showing?" The girl in front of him pondered for a moment.

"Nothing much", she then said. "It just points towards any pedophile near by!"

'Hey Saver.'

'What is it, I told you I am coming.'

'What's a pedophile?' Akage winced, when suddenly Saver burst out into laughter.

"What are you laughing about!"

'A pedophile is an old man who likes small children more than he should!'

"Wa? But I am not an old man?!"

'No, but you look like one.'

"Is that why you laughed, when you activated... how did you called it again? Something with Mecha?"

"Who are you talking too?" As he heard the question from the girl he knew, he had spoken aloud.

"Well, you see…" Her face was suddenly filled with rage.

"I knew it!", she exclaimed. "You are the one who kidnapped all this children! You are a Master!"

"Wait, wait! Yes, I am a Master, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I kidnapped any children! How do you even now things like Master?!"

"That doesn't matter!", she said, taking out a small jewel. "I am going to make you give them back!"

Both, Akage and the girl froze in shock, when the compass suddenly started to raise into the air, spinning violently while it produced red sparks until it abruptly pointed into one direction and broke down.

"Oh really? I want to see that", a voice came from the direction the compass had pointed to and soon they could see a small girl wearing a black hood with snake-like appendages slowly moving towards them. Behind her walked a young man with orange hair and a purple overcoat. With a sinister smile on her face the hooded girl addressed them again:

"But do you plan on rescuing all the children I kidnapped or only those I recently kidnapped? If it's the former I actually _really_ want to see that. I mean, you don't get to see the third Magic at work every day." Slowly she moved closer, step by step, while the two children were to terrified to move.

"But then again, you don't look like an Einzbern. More like a Tohsaka." Akage knew. The pain appearing in his hand proved, these two were Master and Servant.

"Run!", he screamed and waved his hand, before grabbing her and pulling her with him. Caster was preparing to run after them, when suddenly a hail of knifes and forks went down on them. The girl, identified as Tohsaka, saw this display while they were running and turned towards Akage.

"Did you just threw cutlery at a Servant?!"

"Well, sorry for not being able to do much more else!"

"You are going to be sorry!" Caster who suddenly appeared in front of them, pointed with her hands at them and out of her sleeves leaped black arrows, impaling Akage's chest. Or rather the chest of his illusion. Caster's eyes widened, when instead of the adult a kid appeared, already his hands hold out towards her. She jumped back as a set of meat knifes flew out of the palms on his hands. Black arrows appeared out of her back and destroyed all the knifes, while simultaneously making their way towards the two children. But before they hit a red fabric that suddenly appeared in front of them, effectively blocking all the arrows.

"I told you to use a Command Seal, if it was serious, Shirou!", Saver lectured his Master.

"Sorry, I forgot", he answered sheepishly, before becoming disgruntled. "I told you, my name is Akage!"

"Whatever. Don't we have an enemy to fight?" He turned towards Caster. "Now that's interesting. I thought I knew all the Servants, so why is their suddenly a ninth one?" Tohsaka gasped. Nine Servants?! That shouldn't be possible. There were only seven classes, after all. And not only one but two Servants more…unthinkable! Without knowing of the girls inner shock he continued:

"But please don't tell me you are Archer. You being an Archer just because you happen to have some 'arrows' would be a real bad cosmic joke." She smiled at him.

"Why you are perceptive. I am indeed Archer."

"**_Ars Generalis Ultima (The Great Universal Art of Finding Truth)_**." Saver looked at a book in his hand, before exhaling relieved.

"GLaD that's a cake, Caster", he said, before putting his book away. "So, now that we both know our opponents titles, why don't we cut right to the fun part where we try to kill each other?" Between the fingers of his left hand appeared three black blades with red cross-shaped hilts. They were called "Black Keys" and were Conceptual Weapons used by the Church.

"Now, now, do you really going to attack me, while I am inside this boy? He is really frightened, right now. I mean, wouldn't you, when the only people capable of saving you, are trying to kill you?" Saver narrowed his eyes.

"**_Ars Generalis Ultima (The Great Universal Art of Finding Truth)_**." What he found in the book didn't seem to please him. He turned towards Caster. "**Body Possession**? Seriously?! What are you? A demon?!" She just smiled and Saver let out a sigh.

"She is telling the truth", he told Akage. "We can't kill her without killing the person she's inside. However…" His eyes began to gleam. "…that's not true for her Master. Master! Let it rain!" Without questioning him, just like they agreed beforehand, Akage hold out his hand and again cutlery shot towards Caster's Master, or rather way above him.

"Looks like your little Master still needs some training for his aim", Caster laughed.

"**_Liber de Lumine (The Golden Book of Light)_**!" …when suddenly all the forks and knifes turned into liquid gold, raining down on Ryuunosuke.

"Cooooool", he shouted thrilled, when in a flash a black and yellow snake shot out from the mouth of Caster and flew right under the golden rain. Then a bulge appeared and a sphere covered in gold shot skywards. Then like an explosion the gold on the sphere sprayed to all sides, showing an adult Caster surrounded by her black arrows. Saver raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting", he commented. "So a Servant with **Body Possession** can even possess his own Master? I must say, neat trick. Gotta remember that one. You, however, made a little mistake." He grinned and jumped in front of the boy who had his original appearance back. "You have no hostage anymore!" Suddenly the boy started screaming and trashing. Saver understandably was a little bit startled and jumped away.

"And what did you did now?", he wanted to know from Caster, his voice clearly showing his annoyance.

"Why? I just planted one of my snake familiars inside of him." She snapped with her fingers and the boy calmed down. "If you let me go now, everything's going to be fine, but if you don't…" She snapped again and Tohsaka and Akage looked horrified as the boy started screaming again. Saver turned towards Caster.

"So, that is your plan?" Caster smiled.

"My earlier statement still stands." Caster wasn't the only one, who was surprised. Both children blinked at the Servant in confusion. Saver then decided to elaborate his statement:

"We both seem to have different meanings for the word 'hostage'!" With three of the swords in each hand he jumped towards Caster. Caster was too surprised to react at first and she only managed to use her arrows to block just in time. The swords in his left hand vanished and instead a book appeared.

"**_Als ich ein kleiner Junge war (Not Everything Seen by Children Should Be Told to Children)_**." Wide-eyed she saw the arrows getting absorbed by the book, nothing left to block the swords in his right hand from cutting her."

"_Saver_…", Akage shouted, Saver at once stopped and like lightning returned to Akage's side.

"…stop", his Master finished lamely and the mana that had built up inside his left hand disappeared.

"You idiot!", shouted Saver and used his hands as screws for Akage's head. While the boy let out screams of agony Saver continued:

"I told you to not waste a Command Seal for something like that!"

"B-b-but if you kill Caster, he is going to die." Caster just looked bewildered at the scene that was happening. Then she smiled a very sinister smile.

"Well, looks like _your Master_ and _I do_ share the same definition of 'hostage', right?" Saver looked at her as if he possessed **Mystic Eyes**, able to kill and then looked back towards Akage.

"Listen, Master", he told him. "If we don't kill her now, she is going to kill a lot more people later. Do you think you can take responsibility for that?" He started to cry.

"B-but I don't want to let someone die r-right in front of my eyes!" Saver sighed. Akage was way too small to already have to make such decisions. With poison in his eyes he turned towards Caster.

"If it weren't for the Command Seals I would have killed you", he declared and Caster smiled. "You are lucky my Master is such a goody two-shoes!"

"My, my, I really like the way you think. I must say, you are turning me on a little." Saver shuddered.

"Please", he demanded, "don't say such things while your inside a man!" Caster laughed.

"Interesting phrasing", she commented. "See you later, honey!" The boy stopped screaming and without haste she turned around and walked away. Saver himself turned to address his Master.

"So, Shirou. What are we going to do with the boy? He still has the familiar inside of him." Akage shrugged. "I don't know. Don't you have some books that could help?"

"It's a familiar. The only book that would work, before it noticed that we are trying to get rid of it is **_Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum (Ninety-five Theses)_** and that would made the familiar get out and attack its former Master at the fastest way possible, probably killing the boy in the process. **_Artifitium electionis personarum (Tracts on Election Procedures)_** is another such case. It makes the familiar independent, but as long as he is inside of him, it just could decide to wreak havoc. And **_Huangdi neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon)_** tells you only how to heal someone, usually with materials that are no longer available thanks to the emigration of all Phantasmal Species. Healing magecraft always had been a most difficult branch of thaumaturgy and only someone with a special element and origin like Grigori could excel in that. Such a pity he didn't wrote a book."

"I might know someone", Tohsaka butted in for the first time. At once she had the attention of both male. The third one was still unconscious. Saver urged her to go on. "Well, father said, the fake priest has an unique origin that makes him perfect for spiritual surgery. He might be able to do something."

"What's his name", Akage wanted to now.

"Kotomine Kirei."

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

So, for everybody who didn't notice, Avenger's true identity is actually Merry Nightmare from Yumekui Merry. And she is a demons, another terminology of the nasuverse. Has anybody noticed how much dream demons of that anime/manga are like the nasuverse's demons? That could be a crossover itself! They possess human and have a Reality Marble-like Dream World. That really screams demon, doesn't it?

I also tried including a more mundane scene, but it's rather difficult for me to pull something like that off. But I didn't cut it out, because I wanted to show you that even though they are in a war, they still have some everyday-life-like moments (besides shopping and eating).

We also have the first confrontation with Caster, but we can't actually call it a fight. But Akage still has seen her and so, you get her parameter chart, after the author notes. And speaking of Akage, I actually planned that the possessed boy would be saved. But now that I think about it, doesn't that sounds kind of familiar?

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS: ****Caster**

Master:

True Name:

Sex: female

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Mana: B

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm:

Class Abilities

Territory Creation: A

is the skill to build a special terrain that is advantageous to oneself as a magus.

Creation of a "Temple", which is superior to a "Workshop", becomes possible.

Item Creation: A

Is the skill to manufacture magical items.

Capable of making healing potions that grant limited immortality.

Skills

Disengage: D

Is the ability to break away from combat.

Running away from a fight becomes rather easy.

Body Possession:

Is a skill that allows to possess other beings, making use of some of their power.

Vector Magic: A+

A thaumaturgy branch that utilizes arrows and directions in a fight.

Caster can produce thousands of arrows and controlling them at once.

Noble Phantasm


	11. Chapter 10: A Memory of Solferino

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews!

**Lamda**: Yes, but remember that Caster comes from a world, where even her nemesis couldn't kill her, while she was inside a child. She might underestimate the magi a little.

**Zarbapha**: to chapter 1: You're really having high expectation of me. Don't know if I can fulfill that. I have thought about your statement regarding the catalysts and I think, you are right. So I changed it into a combo of second and third Magic. I hope that one is realistic enough. To chapter 10: Saver laughed about Akage's disguise, because of the person it depicts and the irony behind that, as the person is the Master of Saver in Fate/Extra. The compass is a canon object that Tohsaka Rin receives from her father after nearly being swallowed by a magical book. It allows to trace prana and thus pointed towards Akage, as Don Quixote was used on him, resulting in a bit of residential prana around him. That what gave her the clue, that he had something to do with the other side of the world. The accusation of pedophilia was actually a test from her, to see his reaction. But he failed to respond, not because he was a magus who didn't cared about that, but because he didn't knew the word. The reason, why she thought, she could take out a Master on her own was because her father told her that the compass would show a violent reaction, if something too much for her to handle appeared. You figure the rest.

Chapter 10: A Memory of Solferino

"Master, there are people approaching.", Assassin told Kirei. "It's Saver and three children. One of them is a Master." Kirei was surprised.

"A child as a Master? No, more importantly, what do they want? A Master is forbidden to enter the church's ground while they still have a Servant!"

"What is the matter?", Kotomine Risei entered the room. Him followed a small cloud of bugs which flew towards Assassin and vanished under his coat.

"Saver appeared at the church grounds, together with his Master and two children", Kirei repeated what Assassin just had told him.

"What would he want? And why would he bring company?" Suddenly a paper airplane flew through the air, right towards the son of the priest. Thak! Assassin had thrown a kunai and impaled the airplane.

"We should be cautious", he reasoned. "Why? Because he could have figured out our ruse and now decided to kill the Master or the supervisor." But it turned out, the paper airplane wasn't a paper bomb, but in fact a message:

Hey Kotomine Kirei,

Here's Saver. Little Tohsaka Rin here said you were rather good at healing spiritual wounds Does that include familiar extraction? If so, we might want to strike a deal with you. How does that sound?

Love, Saver.

PS: My Master gives love, too.

PPS: Not really, but he wants your services the most.

PPPS: This line I added just for the hell of it.

PPPPS: This one, too.

"Rin?", surprised turned Kirei towards Assassin. "Is that true?"

"I don't know anything about Tohsaka Rin, but there is a young girl with them."

"Please let them in, father. I want to hear what they are proposing. Assassin, you stay out of sight!"

"As you wish, Master."

* * *

"My, my, that was clearly a dangerous situation", Caster spoke to herself, back in her hideout. "I clearly didn't thought someone called 'Saver' could be so uncaring about the human life. Good thing his Master is just a little boy." She made her way towards a specific room. "But now that I don't have his body anymore, I have to get another one." She opened the door and inside there were seven children, bound and gagged lying on the floor. She would devour any human to gain more mana, but her Master had such a fascination with children it was nearly endearing.

"Hello", she greeted and soon the children all started to shuffle in fear. She grinned from one eye to another. She could feel the pleasure her Master took in this action. "Today's your lucky day! Somebody knows a Akaji Akage?!" She looked for recognition in the eyes of her victims but to her displeasure all was fear. The normal one. Not like the "oh, no, if she finds out I know him, she is going to kill me"-fear. She sighed.

"Then maybe a Tohsaka?" There! One girl with short brown hair knew her. Smiling she made her way towards the little child, who started to shift even more uncontrollable. She tried to scream but all the gag let through were muffled noise. Now Caster picked her up and put her in the next room. "We don't want your clothes to get dirty, right?" She then turned around again and devoted herself to the remaining six children. "But it's really not your lucky day… Bon appetite!"

* * *

"I've contacted your father", Kirei told a fidgeting Rin, "he is one his way."

"That's great, right?", Akage addressed the girl, beaming. She became even more uneasy. She didn't wanted her farther to find out about her running away to help a friend of hers. It hadn't just been dangerous, but downright stupid! She hadn't known what power those Servants had. By the looks of it, even the boy beside her was better at magecraft than her. Even though using "Gradiation Air" to summon a bunch of cutlery was unusual, it actually could be used as a distraction and, in combination with his Servant, as a means of attack. She however was just starting. She couldn't even maintain a constant flow of prana. Compared to each other they were worlds apart. In hindsight, it had been rather stupid of her, to try and find the missing girl on her own.

After passing on the message to Rin, Kotomine Kirei turned towards Saver:

"So, what was the deal, you wanted to strike with me?" The irregular Servant cleared his throat.

"Well, you see", he began. "Rin and my Master were attacked by Caster – and yes, I now know that none of the Tohsaka-Servants is Caster, making the number of Servants go up to nine – and she left us a gift. When I threatened her Master she possessed the body of her Master and to stop us from attacking her, she left a familiar inside this kid." He pointed at the unconscious figure on the couch next to him. "My Master didn't wanted him to die, even threatening me with a Command Spell, so I had to let her go. But she still left her familiar inside of him. So now we need someone to get rid of it."

"I already had anticipated something along the lines, when you asked about familiar extraction. What I am most interested in is, you said something about a deal, not a favor or trying to appeal on my ethic code."

"Yes, that's right." He took out a book. "Behold! This unique one-time discount! For just one familiar extraction you are getting the great **_Un souvenir de Solférino (All Man Are Brothers)_**! Just place it in a church and open it, while uttering its name and at once the whole church becomes a sanctuary forbidding any kind of combat! Magecraft, High-Thaumaturgy, Noble Phantasm or even True Magic! Nothing gets past this A++ ranked Noble Phantasm, making your church absolute neutral ground! And as a bonus every inhabitant slowly recovers from wound and small illnesses. Buy now and you get this E-ranked protective charm gratis. **_Un souvenir de Solférino_** by Henry Dunant for only one familiar extraction! The manufacturer's suggested retail price, while stocks last." Silence filled the whole room, while Kirei, Risei, Rin and Akage stared at Saver blankly.

"What?" Akage was the first one speak up. Saver frowned.

"What's with that reaction? Did you know how long it took me to learn that speech by heart? Seriously that's the problem with magi. They don't get any jokes! Maybe I should be glad that at last one of you shows a reaction beyond 'What.'" Kirei was more than surprised when Saver pointed towards him. Why is he pointing towards me? What is different on me compared to the others? Wait! Then he suddenly noticed. It can't be!… I… smile?! Indeed the one person who didn't knew, why she had been selected by the Holy Grail, the one person which had never had found any meaning in its life was smiling. Why?! Was it really that funny that it could make him smile?!

"Alright, I am going to say it in a language everybody here can understand", decided Saver and addressed Kirei directly: "You are a Master who has lost its Servant. That's why you requested sanctuary at this church. And thanks to the rules, no Master is allowed to attack you. But let's face it, there's definitely at last one Master around, who doesn't care about rules at all and I don't think we have to go into the Servants. So even though you are supposedly protected, they might be coming someone after you, especially if a Servant lost its Master. What I offer you is a means that as long as you are on the church's ground, it not just forbids any combat activities, but makes it outright impossible! And if a Master now does try to violate this rule… they will soon find out that they should have stayed out of this war, as the supervisor will gladly direct the other Masters towards the rule breaker, right?"

"Indeed", Risei responded, "if there is such a Master it is my duty as a supervisor of the Holy Grail War to punish them."

"See? And as the owner you are the only one able to place it, take it back or give it away."

"This is indeed a very powerful object", Kirei acknowledged, "I wonder why you would give something like this away just for… this discount." Saver shrugged.

"I already said, didn't I? It only works within a church. As this is the only church in Fuyuki City, I can't use it. And since I get another one the next time I'm summoned, I won't miss it. But I thought this would be the book _you_ could use best."

"Indeed", responded Kirei. He actually would have healed the boy regardless of payment, as it was his duty as a priest, but something like that book actually had its uses. As it was a Noble Phantasm it would never decay and could be used by the Church even after the Holy Grail War was over. This fact became even more impressive, when you remembered that in this age, the only human that had a Noble Phantasm working for them were the Fraga, a magus clan. "Very well, I accept your terms."

"Maybe I should still warn you beforehand", Saver added. "It only prevents combat, nothing like spying or stealing, except being stolen itself. So, if you see a thief taking something away you won't be able to lift a finger against him." He grinned evilly. "Although there is nothing that stops you from following him until he set's a foot outside, either."

"I understand. How do you plan to… pay?"

"In advance, of course. I mentioned it gives a small healing boost, right?" He hold that book towards him.

"I see", he accepted the book. "And what about the charm you mentioned?" A trace of a smile made it onto his face. Saver grinned back.

"Oh, you did listen. Well, I said now and I suppose, now's now over right?"

"Right."

* * *

"So, how's Assassin doing", Saver asked Kotomine, while his son was working to extract Caster's snake familiar.

"Assassin was defeated", Risei responded.

"No he wasn't. I saw him the day before yesterday. He even appeared in the newspaper!" Risei couldn't believe his ears.

"The newspaper?!"

"Yes. **_In The Daily Universal Register (The Londoner Times)_**." He reached over and showed it to him.

"An information-type Noble Phantasm?!"

"Why so surprised? Books are mainly a container for information. Shouldn't that mean that there's at last one information-gathering book in my collection?" He put the newspaper away and turned back towards the priest. "I have nothing against playing dead, but you surely understand that I am a little pissed that the supervisor is showing favoritism, right?" He didn't sound pissed at all, rather amused, but if **_Un souvenir de Solférino_** hadn't already been placed, this would definitive have evoked a hostile reaction from Assassin. But since it was already active, nobody could attack anyone. Risei understood that this was the exact reason why he only mentioned it now. But why mention it at all? He wanted a response and so Risei told him his reasoning, which he already told Kirei and Volquart.

"So, the right wish, huh", Saver mused.

"That is right. What do you seek from the Holy Grail, Saver?!"

"Now, now, that would be telling, right? But we can tell you what my Master wants, right?"

"Wa? Me? I just want to stop people like Caster", revealed Akage.

"See? And my wish doesn't contradict with his, that's all I am going to say on this matter."

"That is a pity. We could have worked together."

"Yeah, sorry, but I have my own wish and that's not the Swirl of the Root." In that moment Kotomine Kirei came back.

"I have removed the familiar", he announced. "The boy is out of danger." Akage smiled relieved.

"Well, Master", Saver asked him. "Are ya happy?"

"Yes!" He turned to Kirei. "Thank you Mister!"

"No need to thank me. It was after all our deal."

"Good." Saver stood up. "Now that that's settled, I am going to clear the mind of the boy. We wouldn't want the Mage's Association coming after him, right after we saved him, right?!" That said, he left the room.

"That's totally irresponsible from your Servant", Rin told Akage", leaving his Master alone like that. What if you are attacked?!" Akage was confused.

"Who should attack me here? Besides doesn't that book makes it impossible to attack anyone?"

"That is only, if he doesn't deactivate it!"

"But he wouldn't do that. He just helped us, right?!"

"You are gullible idiots, both of you."

"Well, the idiots are going to be going now", Saver said, who just came back inside, the boy in his arms, making the Tohsaka wince. "We are going to have to put this little fellow somewhere, where the police can find him. So, say good-bye to ya girlfriend, Shirou."

"G-g-girlfriend?!", both children stuttered embarrassed, their cheeks completely red. Then Akage noticed, just what Saver did call him.

"Will you stop calling me Shirou already!", he shouted outraged. "I've told you countless times, my name is Akaji Akage!"

"Whatever. You could be called Tohno Shiki and I still would call you Shirou!" Akage pouted and Saver laughed. "Give it up, Master. When I am going to call you Akage, the Heaven's Feel will be over." But before Akage could retaliate, the door opened, revealing two well-known people: Tokiomi and his Servant.

"Tch, Saver", Archer spat out.

"Hi… I still don't know your class. Or the girl's for that matter."

"Hello, Rin", Tokiomi interrupted and the girl in question nervously walked over to her father.

"Father…", she said silently, when suddenly the older man bend down and embraced the surprised girl in a tight hug. Then he straightened up and looked Akage's Servant into the eye.

"Saver", he addressed him, still his hand protectively on Rin's shoulder, "I've heard you rescued my daughter from Caster. You have my dearest gratitude. It seems, I own you a favor."

"Hmm", pondered Saver, "phrasing it like that… you're right. Then how 'bout this: So you won't feel indebted anymore, how 'bout you teaching my little Master here a little bit magecraft?" Everybody inside the room except Akage and both Servants stiffed.

"Do you know what you are asking?", Tokiomi wanted to make sure.

"I didn't ask you to teach him your family magecraft, I know that thaumaturgy gets weaker, the more people use that branch. I just want you to teach him some basics like familiar creation or something like that, what he can learn rather quick. He needs any skills he can get. But if you think, rescuing Rin isn't enough for that…"

"No", Tokiomi interrupted, "for rescuing my daughter I would gladly teach him our family magecraft. I just wanted to be sure that you knew the significance of this action. Do you really wish for him to learn just something basic?" Saver shrugged.

"How long would it take for him to learn it on an acceptable level?"

"Very well, I see your point. Then so be it. I am going to teach your Master how to create a familiar. I suggest you move into my mansion for the duration of the teaching period, as we can't demand the Church hospitality, while we still are seen with our Servants and it would be too dangerous for your Master to travel too often."

"Hmm. Well, you're right, looks like I am going to be teaming up with you for the moment. Hi, I am Saver and that's my Master Shirou."

"It's Akage!", shouted the little boy more than annoyed. "Can you not at last say my name correctly, when you are introducing me?!"

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"Saver!"

"Alright, alright. So, Tokiomi, you're gonna tell me finally the class of your Servants?"

"My Servant is Archer. And the girl is Avenger."

"Avenger, huh. So an irregular class, just like me. But you didn't said, she was your Servant. So she belongs to someone else."

"Yes, I am going to introduce you later. Do you want to come to us right after you drop off the child?"

"Yeah, right after we packed some clothes for Shirou here."

"My name's Akage!"

"Whatever. Now, something else we forgot?"

"Actually I would like to discuss the matter of Caster with you", for the first time since Saver's arrival Assassin announced his presence.

"Yo, Assassin", Saver greeted, "finally dropping by? So, what made you come out of your hiding place?"

"I have observed Caster's actions and I have to conclusion that they endanger the Heaven's Feel."

"Oh, why do you say that? I'm the first to admit that Caster's a sneaky little bitch that likes to kill children a little bit too much, but that doesn't mean she's a danger to the Heaven's Feel itself. From what I know, it's not forbidden to eat humans to Level Up. And from what I've gathered, she didn't did something stupid like leaving a business card."

"Why? Because even though the method is not forbidden, the scale itself is enough to arrest attention by the local police. And it will be suspicious if we block the investigation."

"I see. So, what are we going to do? Attack her?"

"As is in my power as the supervisor to make minor rule changes", Risei explained. "We will stop the Heaven's Feel for now and have all the Servants mobilize against Caster."

"Oh, how you're gonna do that? I doubt the other Masters are going to care much." Risei showed him his arm. There was some red symbols on it, just like Command Seals. But they were definitely more than just three.

"These are the unused Command Seals from the Masters in the past three wars. If we offer one of them to the one to defeat Caster and her Master they sure will search for them." Does my Master get one, too, if I defeat Caster?"

"Yes, every Master, which Servant helps in the defeat of Caster will receive a Command Seal." Risei couldn't lie in front of Saver. Even though a Servant wouldn't be happy about an additional way to control him, it was clear that in this case the Servant was more competent than the Master. But he got a surprise, when instead of becoming angry or reject the participation in the defeat of Caster, he smiled evilly.

"Really? Huh, looks like I'm about to do some Caster hunting." He turned towards Tokiomi. "How about we come over to your residence after Risei made it official? Then it will look like we just teamed up because of Caster."

"Indeed, a good idea. Will you be going then?"

"Yeah. I've held this boy under hypnosis long enough, don't you think." Saver knew it was a testimony to them being magi that they could chat casually about their plans, while he was standing with a child in his hand and a testament to his endurance as a Heroic Spirit that he didn't felt his arms go numb. "Shirou we're going!"

"It's Agake!"

"Whatever."

* * *

"So, what are we going to do now?", Akage asked his Servant, when they were finally back within their hideout.. "Wait for Risei to announce the meeting?"

"He already did. Now we just have wait for the declared time and attend. Of course not in person." The young boy was confused.

"Why not?", he asked.

"Because it's still a meeting of enemies. No magus worth his salt is going to attend there personally. No, they are going to use familiars."

"Really? You, too?"

"I have something better that will allow me to concentrate on your training. After all, if I sent a familiar there, you won't be able to train, as my consciousness would have to be inside that familiar."

"Really? Then what are you going to use?"

"Bribery! **_Aesopica (And The Moral of It Is)_**!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Assassin's reasoning about Caster being a threat towards the Heaven's Feel does sound a little bit farfetched, but if we think about, just who Caster attacked, it wouldn't be surprising for Tokiomi to order Kirei to order Assassin to find a reason to make her look like a threat. Or considering who Assassin is, he might even do something like that on his own.

Like I told Zarbapha, who pointed out that the second Magic shouldn't be able to bypass some catalysts on its own, I expanded the mechanics of the Servant summoning with an application of the third Magic. It won't change anything regarding the plot, though.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	12. Chapter 11: Alliance

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you for your review, Coronadomontes.

For those who have read Chapter 9 earlier then the others, I've changed the name of the Noble Phantasm **_Don Quixote_** into **_El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha_** and will in future appearances within the story use this name, too.

Chapter 11: Alliance

"So", asked Saver, "what happened in the meantime?"

"There were all kinds of animals…"

"…mostly mammals and birds, though…"

"…and bats!"

"Bats are mammals, idiot!"

"What did you call me, sewer pee?!"

"What?! Take that back, birdbrain!"

"Fat chance, fatty!"

"I am not fat!" Saver sighed.

"Guys", he tried to placate them, "stop trading insults in front of a child. Can't we concentrate on what's actually important right now? I did promise you something, right?"

"That's right!", the rat and crow both stopped both with their bickering and concentrated on Saver again. Akage was sitting beside them, his eyes wide open, he followed everything these two animals said. It had been one of his childhood fantasies – childhood meaning the time before he had met Saver – to speak to animals and now there were talking animals right in front of him. He already met those two, found by Saver the day before and called into service. They originally didn't had any names, but Saver had called the rat "Yuki" and the crow "Cooro", to make it easier for him to address them.

Saver took out a coin and showed it to them.

"One of you has to go first", he declared. "We let luck decide, which one. When the coin lands, it will show either heads or tails. If it shows heads, Cooro is going first, if it shows tails Yuki. Acceptable?"

"Yes!", Yuki shouted, but Cooro only stared mesmerized at the coin.

"Is something the matter?", Akage asked concerned.

"Shiny…", was the only word coming out of his mouth. Saver sighed.

"Looks like Yuki can start first", he established. That seemed to be enough to get his attention as he jerked his head and shouted:

"What? No, no, I'm alright. Keep going." Saver tossed the coin into the air, caught it, and then looked at it.

"Well, looks like it's heads. By the way, luck isn't a reason to gloat." Cooro, who was just about to say something to Yuki, stopped in his tracks. "Now, could you please tell me, what happened?"

"Well", the crow began, "there was only this one human. And all around him were animals. Then this human began to say something about a magician doing some bad stuff and that he had to be punished and whoever punishes him gets his arm…"

"…not his arm", Yuki interrupted, "just the scribbles on his arm."

"It's my turn, right now!", Cooro shouted infuriated and Akage had to admit that it was true.

"You can talk later", he promised the rat. "For now we just listen to Cooro, alright?" Yuki kept quiet and Cooro continued:

"So, where was I… ah, yes! Whoever punishes him gets the scribbles on his arm. Then he said something about him being rather jumpy and something with snakes… do I get the treat now?"

"We wait for Yuki to tell his observations, right?" Yuki cleared his throat – an animal clearing its throat?! – and then started to speak:

"Also, there were one human and a bunch of animals. But the animals didn't seem like usual, as if something was controlling their actions. Then he talked about Caster killing too much and that they should stop fighting and kill Caster first. He promised the one who would manage it the scribbles on his arm and then gave some information about Caster. First: It's a she. Second: She likes snakes. Third: She can jump between bodies. And then our little airhead here decided to make his presence known. Loudly!"

"It's not my fault! He was mocking us!"

"He didn't expected an answer! Just because you can speak human language right now doesn't mean that every human is going to expect that! Besides, he told us to stay quiet the whole time!"

"Yuki is right, Cooro", Saver interrupted them. "I did ask of you not to say a single word outside this house." Ashamed the crow hang its head.

"I'm sorry. Does that mean I won't get the treat?"

"Well, luckily for you everybody there already knew about the supernatural, so there won't be any further complications. Just remember not to say anything next time, just in case, there are some unknowing people there."

"Okay!", Cooro replied and eagerly accepted the cheese that Saver hold out towards him. Yuki did the same, just a little more reserved.

"Alright", Saver settled, "thank you for your hard work. If I need you in the future, I am going to call upon you."

"Yes!" He closed the book next to him and both animals made off with their loot. Then he turned towards his Master.

"You know what we are going to do now?", he asked just to make sure.

"Yes", confirmed Akage. "Going to the Tohsaka residence so that I can learn how to create a familiar, right?"

"Right. Let's get you a new home again."

* * *

"Hi! We're there!", Saver shouted in front of the Tohsaka mansion. Just as with Volquart the owner came out to greet them.

"I hope the stay will prove satisfactory for you", he finished and showed them in, to meet up with the remaining residents.

"Good evening, Tohsaka", Akage greeted the girl his age. "I thought you would return to your mother?"

"That was the original plan, but I managed to convince my father that if he had time to train another magus, he had time to train his own daughter." On the other side of the room, Avenger had decide to properly introduce herself to Saver.

"Hi, I am Avenger!", she greeted, "last time you had vanished so quickly, we couldn't really talk about each other, but now that different! First: This in my Master."

"Good evening, Saver", the magus greeted, "I've heard you caused quite the commotion the first time, you made your presence known."

"Well, I do, what I can. I guess you've already heard of my Master, little Shirou here?"

"It's Akage!"

"Whatever."

"Speaking of little", the girl looked critically over the boy. "Is it my imagination or did you grew an inch from yesterday?" Now everybody looked closer as the youngest Master, who started shifting uncomfortably as he became the centre of attention.

"You are right", Rin's father confirmed. He certainly was at last one inch, maybe even two, taller than yesterday. Something like that wasn't possible with the natural growth of a human child. He turned to face Saver.

"What did you do?", he demanded an explanation from the Servant, who shrugged.

"Well, when did you think, was the first time, he practiced magecraft?", he answered with a question. Tokiomi pondered about that.

"From his physical build he couldn't have more than four years… No." Suddenly he realized it. He turned towards Saver. "You either are capable of creating a bounded field that speeds up time for everybody inside or a book that can accomplish the same effect." Saver smiled gleefully.

"Ding-ding-ding. The candidate receives ninety-nine points. Shirou never once practiced magecraft before summoning me, so to get him up to speed I had to train him faster than humanly possible. Without this technique, he probably would have died already."

"But that's impossible", claimed Rin. "If he really hadn't been using magecraft before at all, he wouldn't be able to support a Servant on his own!"

"Usually you would be right", Saver admitted, "it's all thanks to my personal Skill **Human Body**. In exchange for not being able to enter spirit form, I get a higher prana regeneration than usual. Allowing me to exist on my own reserves for a while, until Shirou here was able to supply me with mana."

"My name is Akage, not Shirou!"

"But that doesn't explain, how the hell he had the fucking knowledge to summon you", Archer, who had entered the room just now, decided to throw in.

"Archer!", Avenger shouted exited. "I thought you would stay in the room all day! What made you come out?"

"Tch. I just wanted to get a closer look at this Saver. So? How about it?"

"Is it really that unbelievable for him to stumble across some magic book and try out the things inside?"

"Yes. He is way to shy to go to a secluded place, kill some animals and draw a symbol on the floor with the blood on his own accord." He looked towards Akage for an answer. The Master in question shifted uncomfortably.

"You see… that is…", he tried to explain himself, but didn't knew what to say. Saver sighed.

"Can't you cut him some slack, Archer?"

"No. I won't. Please, Akage, tell me how some small boy like you came to do something like entering the fucking Holy Grail War?!" The boy became smaller and smaller under the stern gaze.

"Well, I-I-I… I had a dream!" The last thing he nearly shouted, before shutting up quickly, surprising everyone, while Saver burst out laughing.

"'I had a dream', he says, 'I had a dream'! I just know it, he's going to be an activist someday!"

"Shut it", Archer bellowed irritated at Saver, while Rin confused repeated:

"A dream?"

"Y-yes!", Akage confirmed, clearly thinking that this sounded ridiculous. "There was this guy, telling me that Fuyuki City would be destroyed if I didn't did what was written in that book…" Archer clicked his tongue and rubbed his temple with the hand that didn't hold the cane.

"Great. 'Counter Force'."

"Counter Force?!", echoed trough the building, puzzling Akage.

"Ehm, what's Counter Force?", he wanted to know and Saver started to explain:

"The Counter Force is made out of two parts: Gaia, the will of the world and Alaya, the will of mankind. They have only one goal: Survival. Depending of which one you are talking it's either the survival of the world or the survival of humanity. If something's happening that's threatening either, they will deal with it. But only as much, as necessary. Their influence ranges from manipulating coincidences and people to destroying continents. Your dream about the destruction of Fuyuki most likely belongs to the first one."

"It's a little bit more complicated than that, but for now it will suffice", Tokiomi said.

"But if he is influenced by the Counter Force", Archer deliberated, "does that make you a 'Counter Guardian', Saver?"

"Counter Guardian?", Akage looked expectant towards his Servant.

"Counter Guardian are people who pledged their loyalty towards Alaya in exchange for services while they had been alive. They belong to the second category." He turned towards Archer.

"But even if I were to be a Counter Guardian, it wouldn't matter for the duration of the Heaven's Feel", he told the Knight of the Bow. "Servants don't get a power-up from the will of humanity and if somehow the services of a Counter Guardian are needed, Alaya could easily summon one, without the need for some ritual like the Holy Grail War."

"I guess", Archer said, having lost interest in further conversation. "I'm in my room if you need me." But Tokiomi wasn't reassured, yet. Even the smallest interference of the Counter Force meant that there could be something threatening to destroy the world. Why would a champion of the Counter Force participate in the Holy Grail War?!

"Good", exclaimed Saver and turned to the owner of the residence. "Now that that's clarified, why don't you start with his training? In this war every minute counts!" Ah, that has to be it! Akage never would have received the training, he now had, without participating in the Holy Grail War and summoning this particular Servant. That meant that within the next sixty years something of great magnitude would happen within Fuyuki City, or wherever he would be at that moment. He would have to keep his eye open, for he was sure that if his daughter would become more involved with him, it was more likely for her to be influenced by the Counter Force, too. She was, after all, a prodigy, an Average One, capable of learning all five standard elements!

"Can't you just use your time-book and speed things up?", Avenger wondered. "I mean, you've already done it before, why not again?"

"Because I've done it before. Think about it! What happens if you accelerate the time of one person, but all around him, you don't?!"

"Ageing", answered Volquart the question. "If you create a bounded field with accelerated speed inside, you are effectively making the person older. It's like one of those stories, just in reverse. A man is invited by a mystical woman and spends a year at her house, but when he gets back, nobody even remembered his name, as he in reality he has spend a thousand years with her. Training Akage with that method too often, and he will be dying of old age, earlier than I will."

"That's right", confirmed Saver. "It was excusable, as this time around it was, so that he could survive, but using it more than I already have, will result in getting all his family members and friends get suspicious when he gets back."

"So, his family doesn't know, what he is doing?", Volquart asked Saver and he denied. "But we left with a rather good explanation. As long as the Heaven's Feel doesn't take more than eight months – seriously, what are the chances? – or he is recognized by someone, the secret of thaumaturgy will not be exposed." His face took on a serious expression. "Even if we both were to die!"

* * *

"Alright, that was the last of them!", Waver exclaimed and bottled up the last test tube, marked with an X. He was kneeling beside the Mion River, which cut Fuyuki City in half. Rider was sitting in her wheelchair up at the sidewalk and curiously looked down at him. He put the test tube in a sport bag, shouldered it and walked back up to Rider. That had been the twentieth time, he had gathered water from the river. And the whole time Rider, like usual, hadn't said anything, but silently followed him around. But it was interesting to note that Rider didn't clang to his side this time, but was consent with keeping him on visual contact.

"I have everything I need", Waver told Rider. "Let's go home and get started."

After the battle at the docks, it was no secret that even though Rider had an advantage over Lancer, she was a really bad match-up against Saver. He was easily capable of dealing with two of Rider's abilities and might have some more dangerous books up his sleeve, he was a collector, after all. Alone Rider would most likely not be able to defeat him. The logical conclusion was, teaming up with someone. There was only one problem. Why should one of his enemies help defeat his worst enemy. It was more likely that they would ignore Saver if it appeared that their own Servant had troubles with Rider. At last if he didn't had negotiating material.

That's why he was currently lining up the sample's of water he gathered in some racks. Every test tube had a letter from A to X that corresponded with a specific place on the map, the place where he retrieved it. In a measuring cup he mixed a faint green solution and then used a chemical dropper to drop one drip of the liquid into the water. At once the clear river water took on a light red color. Amazed Rider watched him including one drop in every test tube by alphabet. The further he went, the deeper became the color. But as he reached the letter Q, the water didn't changed its color anymore.

"I guess, that's what you would call a 'jackpot'." It seemed as if he had found Caster's hideaway. And so quick. He actually thought, he would had to try reading the wind movements and earth pulses to find traces of magecraft, but this time he really got lucky. He remembered the big drainage trench, he had seen between the points P and Q that was were Caster was located. Now he could use this information to possibly make on the other Masters help him defeat Saver. But only, because there was a bounty on Caster's head that his potential partner would like to get.

Now the question was only, which Master to ask first. Well, to be precise, just like before there was only one Master, he could ask. The Tohsaka Master had teamed up with the one Servant, he wanted to defeat, the Matou Master was nowhere to be found, Assassin was already defeated and el-Melloi… Yes, the only one left was the Einzbern Master, with the Saber that had Assassin-like Noble Phantasm. The next step would be sending a familiar with a message towards them. Just as he was about to do it, he noticed Rider who had token the chemical dropper and the test tube marked with the letter X and was letting more than just one drop of the reagent fall into the test tube. What's more, she looked disappointed when the color didn't change and turned her gaze accusing towards him, as if it was his fault. He sighed.

"The color shows that someone had been using thaumaturgy near the river", he explained to his Servant. Since this tube has water from upstream of the river in it, there won't be any reaction to spell casting residue." Rider looked at him with a puzzled expression. He sighed again.

"Look." He took out a small pebble. He concentrated for a moment and strengthened it with the smallest amount of od. "Now I've used magecraft on it. If we drip it into the water now…" He followed through with his talk and once the pebble touched the water it became ink black, opposite to the strong red of tube P. Rider looked at the test tube with big eyes and shook it, making the pebble inside tinkle against the class. Then she robbed over to the remaining tubes and switched out X with W. Then she hold out her hand and looked expectant towards her Master. He sweet-dropped.

"Do you want to try it, too?", he asked her and she nodded eagerly. He sighed again and took out another pebble. Luckily these were the once he picked up by the river and not the expensive kind.

"Here. Now, fill the pebble with the tiniest bit of mana that you can muster and…"

BOOOOM!

* * *

"Kiritsugu?"

"Yes, Maiya?"

"We have a message from Rider's Master. He wants to propose an alliance." Kiritsugu looked at the piece of paper, his assistant had brought him. Rider's Master, Waver Velvet didn't said it, but it was clear to him that his desire to fight against Saver with someone else steamed from the fact, how badly Saver made his Servant look at their first meeting. But even without the location of Caster, Kiritsugu wouldn't be that averse to an alliance. The reason was Saver. In his line of work, he had to fight and kill a lot of different people. And Saver belonged to the most dangerous. He never revealed his motives, swooped into a fight and vanished afterwards, with no way to locate him. Saver had more similarities with him than he was comfortable with. It didn't helped that he apparently had uncountable trump cards up his sleeve. And now he even had teamed up with Tohsaka Tokiomi, Kotomine Kirei and Volquart Weissbach, as his contacts had identified the additional Master. No, Waver's proposal was actually a blessing. He would be a fool to disregard this chance.

"So, Rider and her Master wants to fight together with us?", Saber asked. He was in his Standard-Form and leaning over Kiritsugu's shoulder to read the letter, which was actually a little difficult for him, thanks to the reduced size of his Standard-Form. "Well, I don't mind. I really can't forgive Caster!" After finding out, just what the Servant did in his spare time, Saber had been very agitated. It looked like he really didn't like involving bystanders.

"I don't mind either", Irisviel confirmed. "Then I am going to have someone else to play with!"

"Yeah, then there is someone else that gets defeated all the time! You are having way to much fun beating me up."

"Oh, Saber, why would you say that?"

"Call it a hunch." Kiritsugu shook his head. For a legendary hero his Servant was rather carefree.

* * *

"Eh?! You are Saber?!" Waver couldn't believe his eyes. After he had tidied up the mess Rider did – luckily nobody noticed anything since he had out of habit protected his room against load noise and explosions – he had sent the letter to Kiritsugu. Soon he received on in return with a positive answer. Now he was within their castle, but you couldn't quite grasp the fact that this boy was the Knight of the Sword with the cursed blade.

"Yeah", he answered sheepishly, "I have the skill **Double identity**. It allows me to take on two forms, one suited for combat and one suited for staying. The letter being close enough to humans that I can pass as one."

"I see. That sure is a useful ability, isn't it?" Saber scratched the back of his head.

"Not really", he replied, "it only allows me to walk around without wasting mana. It doesn't do anything fancy like hide my presence or so."

"Don't sell yourself short", Irisviel told him, "I really like that ability of yours!" Saber sweet-dropped.

"Isn't it just because this way you can take me shopping?", he accused and Waver sweet-dropped, too. A Master in the Holy Grail War taking his Servants out for shopping? That was… exactly what he did. Not exactly shopping, but he took her out to familiar herself with the area. And if Rider wanted to go shopping, he doubted, he would be able to dissuade her.

"Waver Velvet?" Waver stiffened when he heard that cold, emotionless voice. He turned around to see a middle-aged man and on his hand… Command Seals?

"B-but I thought…", he turned back towards Irisviel. Her hands were clear. This whole time he had been deceived. It hadn't been the Einzbern homunculus that had been the Master. No, the true Master was the man who stood beside her. Hiding in the shadows like an Assassin.

"I have to admit, you managed to delude me", he told them, trying to sound professional, "but you showing yourself does mean, you are sure about our alliance."

"Yes, I am." Kiritsugu hold out a bunch of scrolls of paper towards him. Self-Geis Scrolls. A contract written on a piece of parchment, infused with prana and signed in blood. It was binding magecraft on the highest order, enslaving the person even after their death. The procedure was fairly simple. One wrote an oath on the parchment, followed by a set of conditions. When the conditions are met, the signer can no longer execute the actions, mentioned on the Geis Scroll. It is, in the full sense of the word, giving up part of one's own free will and no method could free you from this oath. It was excessively necessary in a world were magi betrayed each other in a heartbeat. And the Einzbern Master, called Emiya Kiritsugu, brought them here, one for each participant in the Grail War. With this everyone, even Maiya, proclaimed that they would not attack each other until both Saver and Caster had been dealt. Of course, they used more complex words than that, but that was the gist of it.

At first Kiritsugu had wanted to exclude his assistant from the group of the people signing the scrolls, but Saber had asked, if he really hadn't had that much faith in his own Servant, to have to resort to shady tactics. The reason for not concealing her wasn't the acknowledgement of his words. He just couldn't run danger that Saber let something slip. Even though he seemed to have been a Yakuza in his life and was able to make himself invisible, he still had a big chivalry code, as apparent in his stopping Rider from fighting against Lancer, because they had yet to finish their fight. He only didn't jumped in, after Lancer's Master insulted Rider's and even then he only stood there, not attacking the defenseless magus. No, even though he originally had thought, they would fit quite well with each other that had been a misapprehension. He clearly was better suited of walking alongside his wife, while he would walk in the shadows.

"Great!", Irisviel exclaimed happily, after they had all signing the scrolls. "Now that that's finished, how about we all play the new game, which order arrived just today!" She was exited about getting a new play mate. If Waver didn't knew better, he would say, she didn't care about the Heaven's Feel.

"If it wouldn't be a bother I would rather rest, before we take on Caster tonight", he reasoned. She looked disappointed.

"Oh, well, I guess it can't be helped. Please, allow me to bring you to your rooms." Rider again snatched Waver's arm and refused to let go. Waver sighed.

"Please, Miss Einzbern. If it isn't too much trouble, could we get only one room?"

"Oh, my, Mister Velvet. Are you by any chance a pervert?!" Her voice was sweet, but Waver couldn't help to feel scared for his life. Even thought they just had signed Geis Scrolls, he had no doubt in his mind that this woman would find away around them, if he didn't answered fast.

"That's not it", he protested, "it's all her! She refuses to leave my side, no matter what happened!"

"Really I find that hard to believe, especially after her display at the docks!" Yes, that was right. There she had left him all alone among the enemies.

"T-that is just a result of her having **Mental Pollution**!"

"**Mental Pollution**?" Now her voice had shifted to honest surprise.

"Y-yes. It makes it really hard to control her actions." Normally he wouldn't dare to show such weakness in front on an enemy Master, but right now that looked definitely better than the alternative. "And it's stated that the rank can increase under certain circumstances…" That was one of the reason's why he didn't used a Command Seal to deal with her, afterwards, she could be even worse.

"Oh, I see. In this case, I think it is okay for you to share a room", she stated, "but only after we declared some ground rules!"

"If you can convince _her_ then I have no objections!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

This chapter is pretty straight-forward, not much to say about it. The only thing worth mentioning would be Waver's reasoning about teaming up with Kiritsugu. I had already written it before, but decided to throw it in again, because it had been so long.

Once again I remind you, please review, especially if you detect some big logical contradictions or me getting some terms of the nasuverse wrong, disagree with the stats or have some questions.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	13. Chapter 12: No Sanity

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews!

**Coronadomontes**: I'll try to include more casual scenes, although that's going to be a little bit difficult for me.

Chapter 12: No Sanity

He heard a car, screeching tires and a crash. After that was the first time he actually saw something: A great scrapyard, filled with mountains out of giant doll parts and broken toys. The sky was pink with a dim sun and everywhere was a faint fog. That was the scenery that was displayed in front of his eyes. And in mitten it stood Rider, looking around clearly confused.

* * *

"Alright!" Waver inhaled deeply to firm his resolve. He, Rider, Irisviel and Saber stood in front of the sewers that Caster had made her lair. "Rider, your turn!" The girl nodded and out of nowhere came an army of spiders that crawled down the channel. They were to trigger any traps that Caster had laid. It was always dangerous to venture into an opponents base, but it was especially dangerous if the opponent was Caster. Thanks to their **Territory Creation**, they could make any area their personal domain, advantageous to the Servant, if they only invested enough time in it. That's why it was so important to be wary of any traps that might have been placed.

"How is it, Rider?", he asked his Servant who had a completely confused look on her face. She signaled the others to follow her and went inside. Once they walked a bit they were assaulted by a strange sight. Rider's minions jumped forth again and again, but were pushed back every single time by an invisible force. Then, as if they had received a command, they all stopped and the group could finally see, what was in front of them on the ground.

"Are these…", Waver began, but Irisviel interrupted him.

"That are just like those plates in the one game we played, right, Saber?"

"Indeed", her Servant in his Battle-Form confirmed. On the ground were a row of black plates with red arrows pointing towards them. And every time the spiders had tried to cross it, they would be sent the way the arrow pointed.

"I have never seen magecraft like that", Waver admitted astonished. But actually something like that was to be expected. They were up against a Heroic Spirit, after all. "What do you think happens, if we try to destroy it?!"

"I am doing it", Saber said in a tone that made clear, he didn't expected objections. "Just get a little bit back in case something happens. **_Kyōka Suigetsu (The Moon Reflected on the Surface of a Puddle)_**." They made way for him and retreated a bit. Then he calmly stabbed with his sword into one of the arrows. CLATTER! The plate broke into pieces and seemingly out of nowhere a dozen snakes from all sizes attacked Saber. The snakes weren't made out of flesh and bones, but looked like they were shadows. But as Waver had already expected, when they reached Saber they went right through him, while he turned into black fog. Then he appeared right next to the place and with four well-aimed strikes cut all of them in pieces. Leisurely he went to the next arrow and destroyed it, too. This time there was no attack.

"Looks like it's save now", Saber noted while destroying the last of them. "Let's move on."

At once, when they exited the pipe and walked into a big room, lightened up with some strange crystals, everyone raised their guards. But instead of more traps or an ambush, Caster in her chibi-form was comfortably leaning onto a column. Next to her stood her Master. It seemed as if she again had jumped between bodies. But why? She already had experienced that her Master was her greatest liability, so why was she displaying him like that?

"Miss", he spoke happily to his Servant, "the guests have arrived. Does that mean, we can start the party?"

"Yes, I think so." Smiling Caster stood up. "But we have more guests than anticipated! Did you brought some friends, big brother? I hope the game I prepared won't get boring with this many people!" Her expression was totally innocent, while she said that, but that just added to the creepiness factor.

'She knows', Waver realized, 'she must have noticed me collecting the water samples and drawn the correct conclusion. And instead of escaping, she waited for us here! What is her plan?!' Irisviel thought about something completely different.

"Aren't you the child from before?", the homunculus realized astonished and Caster giggled.

"Great, aunty remembers me! But where is the big brother? Didn't you bring him to play?" At last she didn't seem to recognize Saber, that was good.

"He, big brother", she suddenly addressed her Master. "Do you want to see something really cool?" Ryuunosuke's eyes filled with eager anticipation.

"Yes, yes", he exclaimed happily. "Please show me something really coooool!" Waver felt a little nervous with how the killer said the word "cool", while Caster chuckled adorable.

"Okay!" She took out a syringe, nearly as big as her, filled with a black liquid. They all stiffened. What was that? And how would she use that? Did she had to stab them for it to work or could she shot the liquid inside? But suddenly Caster spun around and stabbed her surprised Master into the abdomen. "**_Black Blood (There Is no Fun in Sanity)_**!" Nothing spectacular happened. No flashy light, no explosion, but they could tell, the od level inside of Ryuunosuke was rising more and more.

"Please play with our guests a bit, big brother!", Caster told her Master, while she took out the syringe and let it vanish into thin air. The killer inspected astonished his right hand, as if it just turned green or had sprouted hair.

'Wait!', Saber realized. 'Where are his Command Seals?!' Rider decided that enough was enough and she wouldn't wait any longer. With screeching wheels she darted towards the enemy Servant, when suddenly a two red arrows appeared directly under Caster, making her shot towards the exit, only to be intercepted by Saber, who appeared surrounded by black fog.

"I won't let you escape", he declared, but before he could strike, the whole room was filled with red arrow plates, making a path for Caster, where she could fly uninterrupted. Saber quickly destroyed the plate at his feet and ran after Caster, when they were suddenly separated by my rows of arrow plates, stretching from one side to another.

"Bye bye, big brother!", she shouted and waved her hand. "Let's meet sometimes again!" With that she took off. Rider meanwhile had different problems.

"Coool", Ryuunosuke screamed and laughed madly. The loud laughter echoed through the sewer, being thrown back and forth by the walls. With one swing of her sword she cut the killer, sending his blood sprawling everywhere. But he didn't seamed to be troubled by it in the slightest.

"It's black, hehehehe. That's so cooooooooooooooooool!" He bent down in an unnatural angle and kicked Rider back. Then, in a cart-wheel like fashion he stood upright again, only to head-but the surprised Servant. Rider stopped him with the blade, but it didn't draw any blood. Ryyunosuke grinned madly from one ear to the other.

"Coooooooooooooooooool!", he shouted, gripped the sword with one hand and delivered an upper-cut with the other.

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu, she flying! Gagagagaga. Cooooooool! Hehe. Hahahaha!" He stroke the weapon he had just stolen from his enemy.

"Yay! Now I have a sword, too. Cooooool." Suddenly the sword vanished and a moment later it was again in Rider's hand.

"Huh? It's gone. Where is it, where is it?" He crawled on the ground and searched for it, as Rider slit back towards him and slashed at his back. But again it didn't draw blood.

"Oh, there it is!", he laughed and turned towards Rider. "Cooooooooooooooool!" Now suddenly Saber appeared and he, too, stroked with his sword at the Master. But unlike Rider's sword it wasn't stopped. No, instead it went all the way through him, without cutting him at all.

"Oh, cooooooooooooooooool, wanna, wanna!"

Ryuunosuke punched after the Servant, who turned into black fog and reappeared next to his Master's side, letting the Mounted Knight deal with the mad killer alone for the moment.

"What just happened?!", Irisviel wanted to know and so Saber explained.

"Whatever Caster did to him makes him as strong as a minor Servant and his skin hard enough to be not hurt by any normal weapon. But he still is fundamentally a human, so I can't cut him." Irisviel was thunderstruck.

"Why?" She couldn't think about any reason, why his Noble Phantasm would fail.

"**_Nenekirimaru (The Ancestral Shrine Round Cut Off)_** is a sword crafted by an Onmyōji to cut spirits and yokai. It doesn't work against human."

"Damn", Waver cursed, "and Rider's mount is too big to be used in this small space." Suddenly he noticed Saber pouring something out of a flask into a red Japanese sake bowl. "What are you doing there! This isn't the time to get a drink!" Saber ignored him, while Rider used her shield to defend against an onslaught of attacks coming from Ryuunosuke, who somehow had managed to secure a metal rod. Laughing he pushed her back, further and further, all the while shouting:

"Cooooooooooool. Show me more, show me!" Suddenly Rider had enough. With her soul piercing gaze she looked Ryuunosuke deep into the eyes.

"What are you looking at?", he wanted to know. "Don't look at me like that. I don't like it, bad girl. Hehehe. Bad girls need to be punished!"

"**_Other Self (I Am the One Who Takes on Your Pain)_**!" Suddenly a pink glow was radiating from Rider, growing and growing until it turned into a blinding light engulfing the whole sewer.

* * *

When Waver opened his eyes he wasn't within the sewers anymore. Instead he was in a great scrapyard, filled with mountains out of giant doll parts and broken toys, just like the dream he had previously. But how could become the dream reality? Did he had a vision? But as far as he knew, he never had been a Psychic, so what happened?

"It can't be…", Irisviel muttered in shock. "A Reality Marble?!" Waver was in disbelief all the same. What he dreamt of, was the past of his Servant utilizing one of her greatest mysteries, a Reality Marble. And he had all reason to be aghast. After all, only a handful humans in the recorded history ever managed to form a Reality Marble. Wait! Suddenly Waver connected the dots and it he didn't liked it at all:

"Reality Marble and **Mental Pollution**…don't tell me…she's a demon?!" He looked towards his Servant who was focused on the opponent, who was some yards away. A demon and he had dreamed of her Reality Marble. Was she trying to influence him through his dreams, or why did he received a vision of her Reality Marble?!

"Oj, what is this?", Ryuunosuke shouted. "Not cool! I don't like it! Make it go away!" He waved his rod around, as if fighting against invisible enemies. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Waver was confused. There wasn't anybody talking at the moment.

Rider summoned her big spider construct and mounted it. Waver realized that now she had the space that she needed. Wheels first, she made her way towards Ryuunosuke, who wasn't nearly sane enough to jump away, in high-speed. Without any chance to react, she crashed into him, shoving him over the ground, until he got under the wheels and run over and for good measure she used some of the spiked legs to stomp into him, while she, in the true sense of the word, walked over him. After she was finished, he laid there, beaten and torn and it was a testimony to whatever Caster injected him with that he was even alive, even if it couldn't make the skin hard enough to block Noble Phantasm.

"Thanks for the ride!", suddenly a voice said right next to Rider. She turned around just in time to see Saber jumping of her mount. Waver was dumbfounded.

"When did he…?" The whole time he had been with Rider and nobody had noticed anything?!

"Not cool", Ryuunosuke groaned, as Saber hold out the filled sake cup.

"_Ougi Meikyo Shisui 'Sakura'_." He blew across the liquid and blue flames erupted from it in a stream that shot directly towards the Master and engulfed him.

"No, hot! Not cool, not cool, not coooooooooooooooooooool!" His last words turned into a scream of anguish as the flames burned him to a crisp. His voice got quieter and quieter, until it ceased completely and the last ashes fell to the ground.

"Looks like it's over", he commented and started to walk, only to stop as Rider's moved past the right of his head and entered his field of vision. Calmly he tilted his head a little backwards to look right at the girls piercing eyes.

"What is it?", he asked her. "The fight is over. Let's go back to our Masters." Then he carried on, leaving Rider behind. She stood there undetermined for a moment, but then she put away her weapons and let the Reality Marble fade away. At once they stood again in the sewers.

"Are you alright?", he asked both Masters and they responded affirmative.

"It's such a pity, Caster got away", Irisviel lamented, while Waver was still going over the shock, to have a demon as a Servant, "but without a Master Caster is bound to vanish soon…"

"No", Saber cut off, "she already has a new Master." Both Irisviel and Waver were taken aback.

"What did you say?"

"Caster's Master didn't had any Command Seals. If I were to guess, I would say, she used the opportunity while she possessed him and bestowed the Command Seals to another person and then possessed this one. While she would change the vessel, I don't know, but maybe it had something to do with Saver, whom she encountered. Fact is that her own summoner was only an expandable pawn in her eyes. But as a faulty Master, he wouldn't know that. If he weren't such a despicable existence, one could feel sorry for him. "

"But doesn't that mean, we have failed?", Waver asked him. It pained Saber, but he had to admit, he was right.

"Let's just destroy everything we can", he decided, "with her hideout in ruins, she will be on the run. She's bound to make some mistakes!"

* * *

"That is bad, that is really bad."

"What is the problem, Lancer?", Sola-Ui asked the Servant of her Master. For a while he had been lost in thoughts, completely with his mind elsewhere. As a magus, Solu-Ui knew better than to disturb him, as somewhere else was actually scouting inside a familiar. But now he was back and he had seen something that he certainly didn't like.

"Saber's and Rider's Master have build an alliance. Together they attacked Caster's hideout, but Caster could escape. Her Master didn't made it out of there, but somehow I don't think that's gonna stop Caster."

"But that's the perfect opportunity", claimed Kayneth. "Since she is on the run, it will be easy to find her location and since she has just lost her Master, she will be extremely weakened! Let's go and defeat her, Lancer!" The Servant sighed.

"Caster has already shown to be able to possess her Master. So, why should she switch back to another one, just like that? She certainly has some back-up plan! But let's say for the sake of the argument, she hasn't and we go, find and kill her. What do you think is going to happen?" Kayneth was confused. What would happen? Well, they would be getting one extra Command Seal…

"So, that's it!", he exclaimed. "You refuse to destroy Caster, because it will give me one more absolute order against you!" He should have known, he wouldn't be able to hide this fact from him. He was after all, a spellcaster. He probably had his own familiars attending the meeting.

"That's not it", Lancer denied and sighed again. "You are right, you are getting a Command Seal. Although it is true, that I don't like to be enslaved, that's not the main issue here. Even I have to admit, that a Command Seal is a great asset in this Holy Grail War. And that is exactly, why we can't defeat Caster."

"I don't follow your reasoning. Isn't it always better, to have an advantage above your opponents?!"

"Usually you would be right. But this time it's different. Command Seals are such a grand asset that getting one extra would make you a target for all other Master. The more dangerous you are, the more likely it is that they try to take you out. Especially now that there are two alliances around, getting one extra Command Seal as a lone wolf would be akin to suicide!" Kayneth and Sola-Ui stayed quiet. Even the usually high-strung Master of Lancer had to admit that his reasoning was sound.

"Then what do you suggest we should do?", he asked his Servant. For the first time, honestly interested in his opinion.

"Become members of an alliance, too", he suggested. "It won't just make it easier to fight Caster, but although helps us, after Caster's defeat, in the likely case the Master's stick with their choices until all of their enemies are defeated!"

"I approve to your suggestion. Which Master would you recommend?"

"Actually there is only one Master, we can team up with."

"Really? How did you came to this conclusion?"

"Well, first let's take Rider. Thanks to a certain someone she doesn't like me that much and that can be applied to the Master, right? And Saber has teamed up with Rider, crossing him out, too. Then the second existing alliance would be Tohsaka Tokiomi. However, he has already _three_ different partners, making them an alliance out of Archer, Assassin, Avenger and Saver. I don't think, they would like another one. That leaves only two, Berserker and Caster, the latter being black-listed."

"So, Berserker. But his Master is just a third-rate magus, who passed out from the strain his Servant put on him. Do you really think such a partner would be a great asset?!"

"Certainly. Berserker are known to be rather strong. He was capable of dealing with Archer and Avenger simultaneously, after all. Having such an offensive power to my defensive system would be a good combination, even if we have still yet to see the effects of the book **_Desconhort_**, Saber used on him. And regarding the Master, I might have one or two Mana- and Health-Potions that can compensate on that end."

"Very well, you have my permission to contact Matou Kariya, the Master of Berserker and offer him an alliance."

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Did anybody notice, how similar Rider is to a demon in her world? Taking on the pain of a human and having an own personal world that really calls demon, too, just like Avenger. Although her Reality Marble doesn't looks as impressive as Shirou's or Iskander's as it affects more the mentality of the opponents inside than the physical body.

For the first time we now have a dream circle. I have to admit, I forgot them at first, but then I wondered, if I really should include them, as everything that turns up in the dream, is actually canon in their world. But still, dream sequences are a part of the contract between Master and Servant and thus I will once in a while show them. Now these ones may seem short, but as far as I remember, the dreams at last in Stay Night were at first flashes of their important times and not the entire history. The only known exception to me was Kayneth's dreams of Diarmuid, but he doesn't count because he had a near death experience.

Speaking of Kayneth, the alliance between Kariya and Kayneth is something I decided on short notice, too. It's funny how there is such a group building taking place, without me planning on it from the start.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS: ****Saber**

Master: Irisviel von Einzbern

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: B

Endurance: A

Agility: B

Mana: C

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: B

Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Riding:

Skills

Charisma: C

Is the natural talent to command an army. Increases the ability of allies during group battles.

Noble Phantasm

**Meikyō Shisui: Ripples on the Surface**

Rank: C; Anti-Army; Range: 0-20; Targets: 200 people

A technique that shifts oneself into the blind spots of ones opponents.

**Kyōka Suigetsu: The Moon Reflected on the Surface of a Puddle**

Rank: B; Anti-Army; Range: 0-20; Targets: 200 people

**Nenekirimaru: The Ancestral Shrine Round Cut Off**

Rank: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Phantasmal/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-2; Targets: 1

A Japanese katana. After cutting, the sword places a curse on its victim, forcing it to rapidly losing health and refusing the wound to close.

* * *

**CLASS: Rider**

Master: Waver Velvet

True Name:

Sex: female

Strength: C

Endurance: B

Agility: A+

Mana: A

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Riding: A

All creatures but those of _Phantasmal Beast_ and _Divine Beast_-rank can be used as mounts.

Magic Resistance: B

Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Skills

Mental Pollution: D

Provides a small probability that mental interference magecraft will be rendered ineffective. In the condition that the Servant's master is of Evil alignment, and perpetrates acts of cruelty against the Servant, Mental Pollution will increase in rank, further increasing defenses against magecraft. However, as the Servant's psyche is inherently broken, this may result in irreversible deterioration.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1_**

Rang: C; Anti-Army; Range: 1-99; Targets: 1000 people

A giant spider-like construct with wheels, capable of high-speed movements and turns. It is also capable of firing an unlimited amount of macarons from its mouth.

**Another: I Am the One Who Takes on Your Pain**

Rang: B; Anti-Team; Range: 30-99; Targets: 1000 people

Rider's Reality Marble. Enemies inside it will hear voices which results in a loss of concentration and decreased reaction speed. Especially effective against those with the skill "Mad Enhancement".

* * *

**CLASS****: ****Caster**

Master:

True Name:

Sex: female

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Mana: B

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: B+

Class Abilities

Territory Creation: A

is the skill to build a special terrain that is advantageous to oneself as a magus.

Creation of a "Temple", which is superior to a "Workshop", becomes possible.

Item Creation:

Skills

Presence Concealment: C

Is the capacity to hide one's presence as a Servant.

It is more difficult to be perceived as long as there is no intent of attacking.

Disengage: D

Is the ability to break away from combat.

Running away from a fight becomes rather easy.

Body Possession:

Is a skill that allows to possess other beings, making use of some of their power.

Deception Expert: A

Is the ability to fool the people around oneself.

At this Rank Caster is immune to the ability "Discernment of the Poor"

Vector Magic: A+

A thaumaturgy branch that utilizes arrows and directions in a fight.

Caster can produce thousands of arrows and controlling them at once.

Noble Phantasm

**Black Blood: There Is no Fun in Sanity**

Rank: B+; Anti-Unit; Range: 1; Targets: 1 person

A big Syringe that infuses a target with a black substance, causing it to become as strong as a minor Heroic Spirit. The target gains parameters of Rank D, except Strength and Agility, which increase to C, if the target gave its consent and the abilities "Battle Continuation" Rank D and "Mad Enhancement" Rank D. Furthermore, the blood of the target becomes black in color and impenetrable to everything that is not a Noble Phantasm. If the target is infected longer than 72 hours, it also gains the ability "Blood Control" Rank B.


	14. Chapter 13: Error and Trial

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews!

**Chins4tw**: It's nice you try not to spoiler the identities, but it's an unwritten law that if you write a Fate X Multi Fanfiction of the Holy Grail War, the Servants will be spoilered in the reviews.

**Coronadomontes**: I didn't think about that. But giving the nature of Caster's Noble Phantasm it wouldn't be too unlikely. Thanks, I will think about it.

Chapter 13: Error and Trial

In the middle there was a giant crater. All around it stood a group of tanks lined up in a circle. Behind them stood armed soldiers, wildly shouting things through their communication devices and speaker. In the air above them roared helicopters. And all the madness around concentrated onto one point: a small boy with white hair in the centre of the crater. He looked nonchalant at the people and weapons around him, as if for him people trying to kill him was nothing to get worked up over.

'This boy', Tokiomi mused. 'Is that Archer?!'

* * *

Saver was sitting on the kitchen table and reading the newspaper. Of course this wasn't just any newspaper, no, it was _the_ newspaper! Avenger thought, didn't knew that, but she was still interested in what he read.

"So, what's it saying?", she wanted to know, while she sat down next to him.

"Saber and Rider seem to have built an alliance", he answered willingly. "Together they attacked Caster's hideout, but she got away."

"Oh, really… Wait! That's written in the newspaper?!"

"In this one, anyway." With a bemused look in his eyes he let Avenger snap the newspaper out of his hands and read herself.

"What the hell's that racket this morning about?", an annoyed Archer asked them both. He had just entered the room and already they got on his nerves.

"Look, look", Avenger exclaimed exited and held him the newspaper right on front of his nose, "Saver's got a magical newspaper!" Archer read a paragraph.

"So, Rider's a demon, too?"

"What?!" As quickly as possible she turned the paper around and started to read again.

"I have to admit, you sure have a lot of interesting books", Archer said, but used the same bored tone he had before, so it was difficult to judge, if he was serious. But Saver answered regardless:

"Yeah, they certainly are. But it's no damn difficult to remember all those titles and effects."

"I see, so that's your weakness." Saver froze.

"Damn! You made me slip up! Speaking of slip up, by now Kiritsugu should have told Waver that Assassin's still alive."

"So he already knew? Just fucking great. Who still doesn't know that Kirei's still a Master?"

"I think Caster and Berserker. But Caster knows all the tricks of the trade, so she most likely already guessed something like that. And Berserker's Master probably doesn't care."

"Great. So much wasted energy."

"Much? Didn't you just stand there and let Assassin hit you?" Archer narrowed down his eyes.

"How the hell did you know that?", he asked with a threatening voice. "You hadn't been summoned, yet!" With his thump Saver pointed at Avenger, who still couldn't believe what she read.

"That's the advantage of a time-delayed Noble Phantasm! Even though the only one…" The door opened again and interrupted the conversation of the two Servants. They were greeted by the sight of a sleepy Akage rubbing his eyes.

"Morning", he yawned, "is breakfast ready?"

"Sorry, Shirou, but the Tohsakas are still out cold in the dream land. You'll have to wait a little bit~"

"I am Agake", he muttered quietly, more by habit, as he was still to sleepy to be angry. "Can't you just make something?"

"First: Not my house. Second: I can only do eggs and bacon's. Third: I only did that, so I could say wakey, wakey!" Archer groaned.

"He is always that way, isn't he?", he asked Akage and the boy nodded.

"Yeah, you should have seen him when he was talking about the un-something. I still don't know what some of the words he used mean!"

"I think I can say honestly, I am freaking glad that I hadn't had to put up with him until now. Avenger's bad enough!"

"What's with me?" Avenger had looked up from the newspaper, when she heard her name, but Archer assured her it was nothing.

"Oh, but you forget that from now on you are going to have me around all day! He-hahaha-haha-hahahahahaha!" Saver laughed like a madman and Archer groaned. But at last he stopped, when the door opened again and Tokiomi appeared.

"I see, you are just as lively as ever", the head of the house greeted them. His gaze fell upon Archer. After closer inspection he had confirmed it, yes, this Heroic Spirit was indeed the boy from his dreams. It was not unusual for Masters to dream about the past of their Servants. This phenomenon was called the dream circle and was a result of the close bond that a Master and his Servant shared.

But what Tokiomi had seen in the dream circle made him a bit unsettled. Not because he feared how the Archer in his dream had been just a child and yet they had been assembling a whole army to fight him. But real tanks had been a rather new addition to human warfare. And such a big battle would have been in the news or at last would have sparked some rumors among the magi. So that would mean,that he was not just a rather new Heroic Spirit, but one from the future! He hadn't even thought that was possible, but here Archer was. And the Throne of Heroes was timeless, after all, so why shouldn't there be a future hero?

However, as a consequence that would mean that he had no legend to call his own, not yet anyway. And that was probably the reason why he was summoned not in his prime, but with crippling injuries. Not for the first time he thought, he would have done better with the king of heroes, but that was a given fact as Gilgamesh indeed would have been the strongest possible Servant. But as a magus he would not contemplate too long about that, but would play with the cards that had been given to him.

"Yo, Tokiomi", Saver responded to his greeting, "I don't know if Assassin told ya, but Saber and Rider teamed up and fought against Caster."

"I see." Saver's ability to gather information was really unbelievable. It just might be that Saver is actually the most dangerous Servant in the Holy Grail War. "Do we need to anticipate an attack from them?"

"Na, I don't think so. No yet, anyway. Probably after Caster's finally defeated. That bitch really needs to die!" But suddenly Saver felt a sense of dread coming from behind Tokiomi. What was that? Carefully he looked at the other Servants. Did Tokiomi suddenly decide, he was to dangerous and have the others take him out? Well, then they would find out how difficult that was going to be. He might not be a proper hero, but he still had some trumps up his sleeve. Surprisingly none of the others looked as if they were readying for combat and when he recognized the offender, he knew why. He relaxed his stance and leaned back in his chair.

"Yo, Rin", he greeted, "had a nice sleep?" But the girl in question didn't shared his enthusiasm.

"By quiet", she groaned, grabbing her head, "too early." Saver blinked puzzled. Did she just called off a Heroic Spirit?

"Bwuhahahaha!", he started to laugh. "nice response. I like that one. Guess I should have anticipated that from you!" Rin groaned again, this time without forming words and made some tea, while Saver watched with a bemused look in his eyes, but quiet. For a moment Tokiomi had been worried that Saver would decide to teach his daughter a lesson about respect, but luckily he was too laid back to do something like that. And so were Archer and Avenger for that matter. Why were all the Heroic Spirits around him so laid back?!

* * *

"I wonder, don't you have some place to go to?", Berserker asked his Master in spirit form. It had been a whole new experience for the Servant, to not to fight while in spirit form and instead take on a physical appearance to fight. Usually for him it had always been the opposite. But there was one thing that kept bugging him. He didn't thought that someone participating in this Holy Grail War, wouldn't have set up any base. So, why was his Master living on the streets?

"I refuse to stay in the place where that old vampire lives", he answered his question. "And since I am always on the move it makes it more difficult for our opponents… to find us."

"Not nearly enough!" In the blink of an eye Berserker materialized at cut a small bat into half. "We have to move, now! Wait, what's that?" A small piece of paper was bound to the right leg of the bat.

"Is that a messenger bat? Did they ran out of pigeons or what?!" He picket up the paper and read it.

"Oj, Kariya, looks like Lancer's Master offers us an alliance! What do you think we should do?"

"We can't trust him! Magi have no honor. They will stab you in the back as soon it is beneficial for them!"

"I don't want to mention that, but you look awful! And you somehow receive damage when I fight. Alone you won't survive this. You have to team up with someone, if you want to get the Holy Grail and save your Sakura. And who knows, maybe you even can make friends. It happened with me and Ishida."

"That's a rather optimistic view. But I guess, I don't have a choice. But if they make one wrong move, kill them!"

* * *

"Thank you for following my invitation", Kayneth greeted them. "I am Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, Master of Lancer and this is my wife Sola-Ui. You being here means that you are willing to listen to my proposal, right?"

"Yes", admitted Kariya "I am Matou Kariya and this is my Servant Berserker. Although I don't know why who would seek out another Master for an alliance. Don't you have any confidence in your Servant?" It was actually really dangerous for them to walk into a magus residence and so they had to be on the lookout for any traps. Before Kayneth could answer, his Servant did it for him.

"That's right! He'd rather had a Saber. But that's not the reason, why we called you. I don't know if you heard that already, but Saber and Rider have built an alliance themselves."

"And now you want to do the same."

"It's not that unreasonable. Except for us and Caster, everybody has already teamed up with one another. So, I thought, we should follow. But now that I look at you… Your Master looks even worse than what I had imagined. I wonder if teaming up with you is really beneficial for us!"

"Is that so?", Berserker gripped the hilt of his sword. "Do you want me to show you, just how that would be beneficial for you?"

"Nice idea!" Suddenly out of nowhere a purple humanoid with small wings at his waist, wielding a pole arm and a skeleton snake, mounted by some kind of goblin appeared and jumped at the unsuspecting Master. In the blink of an eye, Berserker unwrapped his sword and cut down both of the creatures. Then he looked back at Lancer, his sword leisurely at his shoulder.

"Was that really everything you have?", he taunted.

"Not exactly", Lancer said, not taking the bait, "I just wanted to know how you would respond to a surprise attack!" He snapped with his fingers and suddenly the wall to their left moved out-of-the-way, revealing a giant room, the same size as the entrance hall.

"So it's bigger on the inside than on the outside", commented Berserker, "I've already wondered where those doors would lead!" STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! Heavy enough to shake the room a giant three times the human size made its way from the new room into the entrance hall. He was covered in bronze armor, wielding a giant sword and a rectangular shield with spikes. The breast plates were decorated with an ogre head.

"Please play with him a little", Lancer told Berserker and the giant swung its heavy sword down. With a great thump it was blocked by Berserker's own blade. Without breaking a sweat he pushed the giant back, who stepped back, to find a stable stance and protectively held his sword close to his chest. Then suddenly his shield shot forward, being held by the giant on a just as big chain. Shatter! When the shield reached Berserker, he just swung his sword at it and in fell into two big chunks of metal. Within the blink of an eye Berserker stood in front of his opponent and without giving the creature a chance to react he cut across its chest. Right. Down. Up. Left. Right. That was too much for it to handle and the golem fell to pieces. They shattered onto the ground before they finally vanished into thin air. Berserker turned back towards Lancer with a smug look on his face.

"Please, tell me that wasn't your best summon", he half taunted, half sighed disappointed.

"Oj, Master", Lancer spoke to Kayneth, what does his stats say?!"

"His parameters are ridiculous high for a Berserker! An A+ in Strength, Endurance and Agility and an A in Mana and Luck, all without **Mad Enhancement**!"

"I see. No wonder his Master couldn't handle him while he was berserk. I doubt anything short of Aguni is even going to make him break a sweat! Looks like I have to retract my earlier statement. I think an alliance between us would be really beneficial for us!" Berserker smiled.

"Great. So, does that mean, we are a team?"

"Not so fast. We still have to polish out some of the smaller details first. Like, how long or who gets the Grail, things like that."

"Well, I have no interest in the Grail. My Master on the other hand…" Lancer perked up.

"What do you mean, you have no interest in the Holy Grail?"

"Oh, well, I don't have any wish I would like the Grail to fulfill. I've only been summoned, because my inner hollow wanted to fight."

"Inner hollow? Are you by any chance schizophrenic?"

"Well, that's one way to look at it."

"I see. Now that would explain your changed appearance. But if you have no wish…" He looked towards his Master who just had the same idea.

"I haven't found a wish, either", Kayneth declared. Both of them couldn't believe how conveniently that turned out to be. Such a coincidence should be just too great. But it still happened.

"Looks like we are all in luck!", Lancer exclaimed. "This alliance has the potential to even last until the very end. Oi, Kariya, what's your wish?!"

"I want to save Sakura!"

"Now that makes it easy! You will work under us..."

"I thought we were supposed to be partners!", Berserker interrupted.

"...please let me finish. As I was saying, you will work under us. So that means, if we beat all others Kayneth will get the fame of being the one to win the Heaven's Feel. I will wish for my ability to vanish and Kariya gets to save his precious person! It's a win-win situation!" He stopped and contemplated for a moment. "Although I still would like to know, how your Master came to that handicap. After all, if it's a curse, I might have something against that."

"No, it's not a curse", Kariya denied, „It's just the price I had to pay for being able to participate in the Heaven's Feel as a Master. Destroying Zouken's Crest Worms would destroy any chance to win!"

"I see, that is unfortunate. Well..." He took out three small vials with a blue liquid and one big with a red one.

"First, does anybody has any objections to the proposal I gave?" Nobody rose his voice. The only one to might have objections would have been Sola-Ui, but as she wasn't a real Master, she wouldn't have been able to make a wish regardless. "Then I'll be declaring the Kayneth-Kariya-Alliance for established!"

"Lancer", his Master butted disgruntled in, "Shouldn't be I, as your Master, the one to do it?!" Lancer just rolled his eyes.

"Now that's just nitpicking. If it makes you happy, go ahead, but that won't change anything at our decision, right?"

"For a proper magus etiquette and rituals are were important! And thus I will be declaring the Kayneth-Kariya-Alliance as established."

"Congratulations, Master", Lancer said, clearly showing what he thought about the etiquette of magi. "Now as I was saying, Kariya, in my hand I hold four vials. The blue ones are standard potions, capable of restoring health and the red one is a Mana Prism, capable of restoring your prana completely!" All present gasped. Magical potions capable of restoring your prana completely, without any negative consequences?! Under normal circumstances they already were a great asset in a fight, but for Servants in the Holy Grail War, who had a lot greater capacity than your every magus… It was unthinkable! They might just be as valuable as a Command Seal!

"What are you going to do with those?", Sola-Ui asked flabbergasted. Lancer smiled. It was clear that he was having fun at their expressions and enjoyed them to the full. He waited for a moment, to raise the suspense and then dropped the bomb onto their heads.

"Why? Give them to our new partners, of course!" He didn't get disappointed, if the gasps of surprise were anything to go by. Quickly he elaborated, what he exactly would be doing:

"After all, the stronger they are, the better is our chance of victory. The blue ones are for Kariya, who can restore a bid of his vitality through this method. I doubt it will help in the aesthetical factor, but it will help regardless. And the red one is going to the Servant. Thanks to this, Berserker will be able to fight without drawing on his Master reserves and refill his own ones, after he had used them up." He walked towards the Matou, who still couldn't believe his ears and laid the vials in his hands.

"T-Thank you!", he managed to squeeze out, but Lancer waved it away.

"Don't worry about it. We are partners now!"

"Is there anything I can do in return?"

"Well, you could let me take a look at those worms you mentioned. Preferable nine of them." Kariya froze, but soon relaxed again. He didn't care about the Matou Crest at all. And in an alliance both parties helped each other and if it took nine Crest Worms from his side, why should he deny it? He had only promised Zouken to bring him the Holy Grail, nothing more. At most, it would piss the old vampire off.

"Eh. Ugh." Kariya groaned. The worms weren't just his qualification for being a Master. They took the role of magic circuits that were inside of his body. Magic circuits. Pathways that convert life force into prana, located in the magus soul and with physical representations in the body. And now nine of the Crest Worms, fell down onto the earth. They were disgusting to look at, like maggots the size of mice. Lancer wrinkled his nose.

"And you have those inside of you voluntarily?! Respect, man, respect!" He snapped with his finger the wall to the right moved away. Doors passed, until it stopped by one specific one. Now nine small red humanoid with blue eyes and leathery wings appeared, picking the Crest Worms up and carried them trough this door.

"I'll know, when you need me", he said, before walking towards the door himself.

"You sure you are no Caster?", Berserker sweat-dropped. "From your display of abilities you certainly look like one." Lancer smiled.

"Oh, but I am a Caster!", he said. "My class name is Lancer, but thanks to my skill **Double Summon** I am both a Lancer and a Caster." He waved one final time, before walking through the door, closing it behind him.

"Now, let's see", he mused. In the room there was only one table. Nothing more. The creatures put the worms onto the table and then vanished, while he took out a ring and put it onto his finger. "Alright, let's get started!" Suddenly from the palm of his hands a bolt of lightning flew towards the first Crest Worm, killing it, jumped onto the next, killing it, jumping onto the next on and so forth and so forth, until the last on. The whole process didn't take more than three seconds and at the moment one died, a blue orb came forth from its corpse and flew towards Lancer and then right into his body. Eight times the process repeated itself and Lancer just stood there, taking in all the blue spheres. Then he grimaced in disgust.

"What the hell?!", he shouted. "Does this guy even know just what he has inside of his body!" Suddenly out of nowhere nine giant beetles with sharp claws, jaws and a long knife-like stinger appeared. "Nine, huh. My maximum up until now had been three. I guess I have to thank him for that. Although that makes it not less deserving to erase his existence. The only question is, if I should be the one doing something about that."

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Not much going on in this chapter, except the alliance and no, I really didn't planned it, because of how the wishes were distributed. It just happened that way.

Regarding the stats of Caster, Rider and Saber, if you haven't already guessed, I didn't write them down last chapter, because Saver only got the information through The Daily Universal Register one day later. But in future I think, I will put the stats at the end of the chapter, they are appearing, so that you can compare them to what happened in the chapter, if you so desire. That's why I'll also show Berserker's parameters this chapter and will add the other's at the end of the last chapter.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS: ****Berserker**

Master: Matou Kariya

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: A+

Endurance: A+

Agility: A+

Mana: A

Luck: A

Noble Phantasm:

Class Abilities

Mad Enhancement: X

Lost because of an opponent's Noble Phantasm.

Skills

Hidden Visibility: D

It is impossible for anybody without magic circuits or psychic ability to see this Servant.

Air Dance: A

A skill that allows for running across the air as if it was solid ground.

Berserker is able to stand in mid-air, regardless of the direction he is facing.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1_**

Rang: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-2; Targets: 1 person


	15. Chapter 14: Saver's Plan

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews!

**Zarbapha**: Thanks. If you hadn't mentioned that. I probably would have skipped it. But you are right. These two have to fight at last once. But not today.

Chapter 14: Saver's Plan

It was summer. The trees stood green and yellow petals flew through the sky, originating from the bushes around. It was a peaceful scenery, if it weren't for the tall black-haired man in Japanese clothes lying on the ground and the young black-haired girl standing above him. In her hand was a long katana, the edge toothed with incisions, indicating a frequently usage. The blade was stained with a trail of blood, probably belonging to the man on the ground, who already started to bleed severely. The young girl looked backwards towards an even younger boy with brown hair, who looked at her with wide innocent eyes and smiled at him sadistically.

* * *

Kiritsugu was at his workplace, sorting the information he had, when someone knocked at his door in an irregular manner. At last it seemed irregular. But Kiritsugu knew that had been the sign, he had agreed on with Maiya. He opened the door and she quickly went inside.

„Berserker and his Master have entered Kayneth residence", Maiya reported without any greetings. „Up until now, nobody made it out." So that either meant, Berserker had been defeated, Kayneth Archibald and Matou Kariya had come to an understanding or the fighting was still being continued. The latter was rather unlikely, as usually fights between Servants never took that long. Speaking of which...

„What is the status of Berserker?"

„He's still without the influences of **Mad Enhancement**. Whatever Saver did, it seems to be permanent. And regarding Saver, he has sent us a package."

„A package?!"

„I haven't touched it, yet." Of course. Who knew, what kind of traps the Servant had placed on it. His suspicions were confirmed, when he looked at it in person. The package just oozed prana into the air around it. It was some sort of rectangular object wrapped in newspaper... Wait! Newspaper?!

„Retreat!", he shouted and not a moment to early, as the package burst open, sending shred's of the wrapping in all directions. But none of them reached them. Instead a small letter sailed through the air and landed in front of the door. The letter had no trace of prana, whatsoever. Kiritsugu double-checked it, before finally opening it:

Oj, Kiritsugu, how's it going!

As paranoid as you are you probably thought this was some kind of paper bomb, right? Don't worry, it's nothing like that. I just used the confetti effect, so that you would open it, instead of just destroying it outright. Well, rather trying to. It's not like you have something on hand that can destroy Noble Phantasm, right? And that is exactly, what this is. Les Passions de l'âme: Soul and Body Are One! A book that has the ability to bind a soul to the physical body it's currently inhabiting, when touching the body while activated. I think you can imagine, why I gave this to you and how I envisioned you using this one.

Love, Saver.

PS:…

Following was a list of some a list of senseless sentences, like "You should wear more orange.", "Ever read the bible?" and "Just added this line for the hell of it." But Kiritsugu read them all. And thus he didn't miss the one important sentence at the PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPS:

"If you use this without for my intended purpose first, you are going to die, just saying."

So that was it. Somehow Saver hadn't been able to kill Caster because she was inside a human child. But at the same time, he had no restrains of killing Caster, even if the child would die, after Caster had been outside. This could mean only one thing. A geis. He couldn't attack the child because in his life he had accepted a contract, which made it impossible for him to kill people who met a certain condition, the child being on of them. And thus he couldn't kill Caster as long as she was possessing the child.

But it also told him that somehow he managed to find out that Saber's Noble Phantasm didn't worked on human, making it possible for him to kill Caster without killing the human she possessed. And thus he had decided to give him a book, which would bind Caster to her current body and then make it possible for Saber to finish her off. Hidden in the post scriptum had been the condition that Saver needed to kill him, after he had fulfilled his purpose. At last that was, what it appeared like. He wouldn't put it past Saver to lie about that and it would kill him regardless.

But Saver made on mistake. **_Als ich ein kleiner Junge war_** and **_Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum_** had been both created to be read by ordinary people. And in the case of the first one, it's author Erich Emil Kästner had been an ordinary person, too. It follows, that opposite to legendary weapons, which were only wielded by their original owner, books could used by anyone, even those that had no talent as a magus. That was why, instead of using it himself, he would let Maiya use it instead, just in case it really was rigged.

* * *

„Hi, Saver, where have you been?", Avenger curiously asked. After breakfast, Saver had vanished and didn't reappear until nightfall. It sure made her somewhat curious.

„I've just had to sent some package. Nothing major. By the way, how's Shirou's training going?"

„I don't know, you have to ask him." She led him towards the room, where she knew him learning, reached for the handle, stopped, frowned and then knocked.

„Shirou", she shouted, „Saver's is back." Soon enough the door burst open and a frowning Akage appeared.

„Don't you start calling me Shirou, too!" Avenger sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"Sorry, it's just that everybody's calling you Shirou and so I might have slipped up."

"They do?", Saver inquired curiously and Avenger nodded.

"First had been Archer and at one point Rin had started, too.", she elaborated.

"It's all your fault", Akage accused his Servant. "If it weren't for you, nobody would call me Shirou!"

"Well, I won't deny that. But I will still not stop."

"Ugh!", Akage groaned. "What do I have to do to make you call me Akage?!"

„Survive the Heaven's Feel!", Saver declared.

„Win the Heaven's Feel?", Rin suggested mischievous.

„Kill a Servant on your own", Archer decided, completely serious.

„Become a hero?", Volquart decided to throw in his own comment to make fun at Akage's expense. Saver couldn't hold himself anymore and laughed loud out, clutching his abdomen.

„Na, ya don't wanna be a hero. Been there, done that! Not something you'd have fun doing!" The other's became silent. Both Avenger and Archer were summoned by the Holy Grail under the definition of heroes and thus they knew that heroes were a pitiable existence. Avenger aimlessly wandering the earth, a world that wasn't hers, searching for a way to go home, having all her hopes and dreams crushed in front of her eyes. And Archer became a mass murderer out of his aversion to hurt people.

"Maybe if he becomes like _that_ fucking hero." But even though he knew the truth about heroes, there was still one human that could be described as a true hero. Not caring about terms like hero and villain, friend and enemy. If he saw one person in front of his eyes needing his help, he would save them, no matter the cost. For him it didn't matter if he knew the person, it didn't matter if they had fought before. He would even stand up against God, if it meant to protect one person, even if this person would spell the end of the world, without regret.

"That hero?", Avenger repeated curious.

"A person I knew."

"Oh, I really would like to know more about that person", Saver mentioned.

"Tch, I ain't no fucking story book. Ask someone else for a bedtime story!"

"Ya sure are defensive. But putting your life aside for now, Shirou, how's your training going?"

"My name is Akage!"

"Whatever. So, how's it going?" Akage's face brightened up.

"Look, look, what I can do!" He turned around and pointed towards the door. At the threshold stood a humanoid figure as big as Akage. It was a doll, made out of metal and shaped to closely resemble a human, but the legs and hands ended into pointy blades. Now that Saver looked closer, he could see the construct wasn't just made of metal, but consisted of countless blades, knitted together like muscle fiber.

"Is that… a puppet?" Puppets were a kind of familiars. But while the normal familiars were made for scouting, puppets were created with the mindset that not the magus had to be strong, he just had to be able to create something strong. In other words, combat.

"Indeed, it is", Tokiomi confirmed. "When I was teaching him, we realized that he could not create any normal familiar. But he showed a lot proficiency with puppets made out of blades. But I guess you already anticipated that."

"…actually, no. I never thought, it would come that easy to him. He had a lot more problems with bounded fields…" How could that be? Shirou never showed any talent with anything not related to creating swords and fighting. Wait! Puppets were related to fighting! So that could explain it! His Origin was "Sword", making it easy for him to learn combat but made anything else more difficult, if not impossible.

The Origin was the drive, someone had at their first incarnation and it was passed down through all of them. In every single life. Now it was only a drive and thus would not completely overtake ones action. Except if you were to awaken to it. But it used some complicated magecraft ritual and he wouldn't recommend it.

Awakening to ones Origin would give one the knowledge of every single incarnation, even those not human or questionable ethics. You could easily end up unfit for human society or even distorted. Wait, distorted… no way! Shirou?! Could it be that the fire created by Angra Mainyu awakened him to his Origin?! Someone with the Origin "Sword" had to have been a warrior in nearly every reincarnation. Add the experience of thousands of soldiers into the mind of a seven-year old… no wonder he had been distorted.

The reason why he was even functional in modern society, was because like every good soldier he even had two mind-sets, one suited for battle and one suited for daily life. Yes, that could explain, why he had so much trouble with standard thaumaturgy after the fire.

No, wait, he was missing a crucial point: His Origin had changed thanks to Avalon! This meant, Shirou would be like the first incarnation with this Origin. Could he still access his previous life when his Origin changed? Probably not. And even if, his previous Origin of "Aliment" wouldn't be really fitting for a soldier. Damn, and he liked that theory…

"Did you tested it?", Saver asked and Tokiomi answered in the negative.

"The ritual needs a lot more preparations, before it can executed", he explained. „But I surmise, it is the reason for his special magecraft properties?"

"What are you two talking about", Akage demanded to know.

"Your Origin", Saver answered the question and turned back towards Tokiomi. "And he has Sword by the way." Of course Saver forgot to mention he was the one who gave it to him in the first place. He wondered what their reactions would be, once he told them of his Element…

Tokiomi meanwhile had his own thoughts about the matter.

'Sword', he mused. Now that was interesting. Usually a magus had an abstract concept as Origin and not a physical object. But it would explain his special magecraft affinities. An Origin that expressed itself outwardly would result in such irregularities and what was more likely to be directed to the outside than an physical object? Really fascinating. He might have decided to look into that a little bit more after the war, as it was really an interesting prospect, but if he won and managed to reach the root, he would most likely not come back and if he lost, he would most likely die. Everything that came afterwards, he had to entrust to his daughter."Well, I think that concludes that", Saver interrupted him in his musings.

"Excuse me, but what do you mean?"

"Now that Akage learned everything he could from you, there is no reason for us to stay here, anymore, as your debt is finally repaid, right?" Akage was taken aback.

"What? We have to go already?"

"Oh? You're sure eager to stay, Shirou, does that have to do with little Rin over there?!" Akage blushed up to the ears.

"It's not like that!", he denied. "And my name is Akage!"

"I wouldn't mind you staying either", Avenger added, but Archer clicked with his tongue.

"I'll be happy, when they are fucking away", he voiced his opinion. "Avenger's bad enough on her own!"

"Hey!"

"We just agreed to keep together until Tohsaka had finished teaching you", Saver repeated. "Or is there any reason you can think of, for us staying?" Akage kept silent. "Like I thought. Then please proceed to pack your clothes." He turned to face the head of the house. "This will be a goodbye Tokiomi. The next time, we met, we might already be enemies."

"Yes, this is the flow of the Holy Grail War." Even thought they had lived under the same roof for a day, even thought they had helped each other, when they finally met as opponents, they would be prepared to take each other down. This was, what magi truly were.

* * *

"Wow, I kinda feel like I should be getting nostalgic!", Saver was standing in front of the summoning circle that Akage had drawn to summon him. He already had sent his Master to bed, as the young boy still needed more sleep than an adult. It had been different while training, as he could catch up his sleep there, but now it would be even more difficult to fight at night. Now one could ask, why he didn't just used his ability to make him sleep in the "training room", as ten hours shouldn't make a difference to his current growth speed. But the technique, he had used, took a lot of his mana that even he, with his higher mana regeneration than usual, could only use it two nights in a row, before being completely exhausted.

When he had fought Caster - if you can even call that short meeting a fight - he actually hadn't been at his full capacity. In that aspect they were rather similar. But while she devoured humans to refill her mana, he had his Master's reserves stocked up. With the help of his Master he might be able to use it again, but never for combat purposes. And since he wouldn't be able to use it anymore, he had to get some other help. He took out a small piece of paper. Like most of the pieces of his possession, he did not create it, but at some point collected it. However, this one was a rather new addition compared to the others.

"Seriously", he mused to himself, "he really has the hand writing of a seven-year old. It's barely legible!" Then he took a deep breath and began to chant:

"_It's made out of silver and iron._

_A foundation of stone and the Master of contracts,_

_Under the supervision of Clavis._

_A wall blocking the impure wind._

_Close the gates of all four directions._

_From the throne, come forth and follow the forked road to the kingdom._

_Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill!_

_Fill five times,_

_And destroy each when filled._

_I announce!_

_My will shall create your body, and your sword shall create my fate._

_As this is a summon of the Grail, if you accept my will and reason, answer me!_

_I hereby swear!_

_I know what is all good in the eternal world._

_I fight what is true evil in the eternal world._

_Bowing under the trinity in heaven,_

_Come forth from the circle of restraint, Guardian of Balance!_"

Pain jerked through his abdomen, the circle glowed brightly and filled the room with a blinding white light. After the light died down Saver could see a person standing inside the circle. It was a young girl with brown eyes and short brown hair, decorated with one hair clip. She wore a light-blue mixture between jacket and coat with a white shirt underneath. Going down were first orange pants and then long black socks and brown boots. The girl curiously looked around, her gaze first falling onto Saver and then the summoning circle on the floor. Then she frantically looked around again and again. Then jerkily she jumped in front of him.

"Have you seen a calico cat?!", she asked with a timid, but pleading voice. Calico cat? Please, don't let her mean Calico Len! We don't need the carnival right now.

* * *

"Another one?!", Tokiomi couldn't belief his ears. There were already nine Servants summoned and someone decided to summon one more?! Could it be that the fake Sakoshimo finally succeeded in his endeavor to gain his own Servant?!

"Which class is it this time?", the Master of Archer asked the priest.

"Brawler."

"Brawler?"

"Yes, another class that no one has ever heard off…"

"No, I know this class! Brawler had been planned to be made the seventh of the original classes. But it was cut out in favor of the Berserker class." There just hadn't been that much legends about martial artists, that fought with only their fists and an enhanced mad Servant had been more appealing. But except the three houses that created the Grail nobody should know this. And the Tohsaka didn't even mentioned that in any of their notes, but it had more of a tale, told to the children. Not something someone should be able to make use of to summon a new hero.

"Then do you know of the class skills?"

"If it is really created after the prototype version, they should be **Bravery** and **Battle Continuation**." That meant that they would survive a lot wounds and negate standard mental influences, but not thaumaturgy. "I will inform the others!"

* * *

No way! Again! It happened again! Again a Servant was summoned. Without the use of the Holy Grail, even if it still had a connection to it. And what's more, the Master of the Servant was Saver, a Servant himself! Now that's not to say that Servants weren't capable of summoning Servants themselves. Heck, Medea did that _every single time_! But how would this Servant know that a Servant that was a magus at the same time, could summon a Heroic Spirit themselves? And why did it work, even though there were already _nine_ of them! No matter how you looked at it that should be impossible. At last he knew the name this time around. And it looked like the summoning didn't went as planned, but similar how Medea received an Assassin that greeted his opponents and told his name, Saver got someone who was only half-suited for this class.

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Since a lot hints point into the direction that Shirou's Origin has changed together with his Element I decided to stop being stubborn and just let Saver make use of on of the Noble Phantasm I had created a long time ago and was just collecting dust. Its name is going to be revealed later, though.

But most important: Brawler. Now you might ask, "why is that guy introducing a new Servant, again?!" Regardless if it would be reasonable for Saver to try that – and believe me, he knows how to increase the numbers – I personally wanted to show you that class. The reason for that was that anime trend to have a lot of people in their teams, only fighting with martial arts. For example: Sanji from "One Piece", Ayuma Aikawa from "Kore wa zombie desu ka?", Aotabo from "Nurariyhon no mago", Tsuchimikato Motoharu from "To aru majutsu no index", Saizo Komiya from "Vamire + Rosario" and Kenichi from "Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple". Now some of them might have a supernatural ability, but that doesn't mean, they are fit for the Caster class. So I created this new class: Brawler. The skills from the class come from my knowledge of martial artists in movies, which include great mental strength and the ability to suppress pain to continue fighting. However, they are not without basis, as a Yihequan – commonly referred to as Boxer – could easily have these skills as a Heroic Spirit, even though they made their first appearance a little bit later.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	16. Chapter 15: Hunting for a Snake

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews!

**Coronadomontes**: If someone would ask me to explain, what happened to Shirou in the fire, this would be my answer. Type-Moon is rather vague on this matter.

**Zarbapha**: Well, I certainly hope she is going to be interesting, but as she is not an OC, you have to see that for yourself.

**EVA-Saiyajin**: I hope the chapters are now more readable. The second problem still needs to be addressed, though.

Chapter 15: Hunting for a Snake

"Alright, I am back!", Saver shouted as he returned to the room, where Brawler right at the moment inspected some of the protective charms, Saver had placed around the room.

"Here it is", he told her and showed her a book. "I hope this will help clarify the situation!" It had taken him half an hour to make her listen to him and convince her that her cat would be fine. It helped that he knew of another person that had been summoned while still alive and received the memories of the Grail Wars she participated in as dreams. What was worrying though, was that she didn't knew anything about Servants or even the Holy Grail War itself! Did she even had a wish?! It wouldn't be so bad, but how would she listen to him? Well, first things first, since she didn't get any updates from the Grail, he had to do that manually.

"So, let's start again at the beginning. The Holy Grail war is a secret battle royal were a limited number of magi, magic users if you will, summon heroes to fight against each other until the last one standing to claim the Holy Grail." Brawler looked at him confused and Saver clarified:

"Well, it's not _the_ Holy Grail, but instead an object that was called that way because of its wish-granting powers. And its powers are, why everybody wants it so bad that they summon heroes from past and future to fight for it. When those heroes are summoned they are categorized under classes and when they introduce themselves they use these classes instead of their names to avoid the opponent finding out your identity. Each class has different characteristics… Yes?" Brawler had raised her hand, just like in school.

"Why do they avoid, letting the opponent find out their identity?", she asked.

"Well, it probably wouldn't matter for you… but heroes are usually well-known, right? King Arthur, Heracles, Medusa, Edward Thatch, Muramasa… you get the picture. And if they know your name they know your abilities or at last your Noble Phantasm and what weaknesses you have. Like Medusa having a bad compatibility with Harpe and Cú Chulainn losing against Caladbolg… Yes?"

"What are Noble Phantasm?"

"Well, Caladbolg and Harpe are an example. Basically the crystallized legends of the heroes. That what symbolized the hero. That can be weapon they wielded in life, magical objects, their mounts or abilities. It is said that every hero has one Noble Phantasm, but I've seen that rule broken so often, you might as well forget it right now!… Yes?"

"Does that mean, they are like 'Gifts'?!"

"Gifts? Wait! Wait a moment… You were shocked that your cat hadn't been summoned with you. But you weren't surprised that you had been _summoned_ at all. Could it be that you have experience with something similar?!"

"Yes." Saver sweat-dropped.

"And you didn't thought, it might be good to tell me that a little bit earlier?"

"No."

"Really, somehow I get the impression, you just didn't wanted to bother."

"Yes." All this she said in the same quiet, emotionless voice. Saver had to chuckle.

"You've got me there", he admitted. "Then how about it? Won't you tell me about that experience?"

"Don't want to."

"Oh? Then I won't tell you about this one!" She tilted her head.

"Didn't you said, you summoned me to fight for you?"

"And what's with you? Don't you have any interest in the Grail?!"

"Not really."

"But there has to be something you want to do. If you had no reason to fight in this Holy Grail War you wouldn't have been summoned! And if it's something basic like fighting or killing."

"I just want to make friends." Saver sweat-dropped again.

"I don't think that that's enough to be summoned in the Grail War", he mused. "Then again…" If you looked at Shakespeare's motivation… Saver shook his head to concentrate on the important matters right now.

"Now, where was I…" Damn, he forgot. His gaze fell upon the book he had brought. It was the book he had given Akage and just borrowed for a moment, so he could explain better. "Oh, yes, the different classes have different characteristics…" But then he stopped. "Right, let's just scratch that. The Servants this time are so messed up, it won't do you any good to know the general parameters. Besides, I already have enough information on them personally and it's not like there is suddenly going to be a second Saber or so, right? So, what else is there… Oh, right. The Command Seals! Each Master is given a set of three Command Seals that functions as absolute orders that the Servant cannot disobey."

"So", she concluded, "that means I am practically your slave?" Saver sweat-dropped.

"I am honestly surprised how you can say that with that tone and expression. But you aren't completely wrong. Although the Master who tries to abuse this, should make sure to use his first Command Seal to order his Servant to restrain from killing him. Meaning he has only one more absolute command to give or he loses his right to participate. Really wasteful, don't you think?"

"I see. So, you won't use them?"

"Are you kidding?! Have you ever seen what Kiritsugu can do with his gun? I'd rather keep them for myself!"

"You can do that?"

"Nobody would think about it, because it's even more wasteful, but I've seen it done before. But putting that aside, there's still the question, what _you_ are going to do! Are you going to battle or do you want me to use on of my Command Seals to make you kill yourself, so you can go back?"

"I think I will stick around, for now."

"Great! So, next morning I am going to introduce you to my Master! For now, I will show you your enemies!" This time he really took out the book, to present her the people, they would be going to fight.

* * *

A young boy with a gray-hooded mantle and black glasses was kneeling above a dead bird. The bird in question had an unnatural purple color. In his hand the boy was holding a pipette. With it he took a sample from the bird.

Is that… Assassin?

* * *

"I have found Caster's new hideout", Assassin reported back to his Master. "I think we should attack her now. Why? Because when we don't attack her now, she might soon switch to another location and then we might not find her again."

"I agree", his Master said. Even though he had seen a part of Assassin's history in a dream, it wasn't like he had seen any great revelations. "I will inform Tokiomi, so that this night, we can move against her. Do you have any information regarding Brawler?"

"I must apologize, but no, I don't. It seems that he is hiding at the moment."

"Alright, please continue for now with watching over Caster's location. It wouldn't do us any good, should she move away without our knowledge."

* * *

"So, here is, where that bitch lives?", Archer asked. They stood in front of a small house with a big front yard. Nothing seemed wrong, but all knew that when they went inside, they would find nobody who was alive. Archer looked over towards Tokiomi who gave a small nod. He had set up a bounded field to keep the noise inside the area. But that meant that Caster would be warned. Archer activated the switch on his electrode and shot into the building, crashing through the walls.

Meanwhile Assassin would continue to monitor the surroundings to see, if she tried to escape, while Avenger was supposed to stall her, until Archer caught up. He didn't had to wait for long as soon a voice could be heard:

"My, my, you sure are making a ruckus." Archer turned around, materialized a pistol and shot at the origin of the voice. Caster quickly jumped out-of-the-way. She did it with a lot more grace than ever before. This was because right now, she was in her adult-form, which was a lot more capable than her child-form. However, that meant that right now she was not possessing anyone.

"My, my, what a hasty fellow", she said with glee and Archer shot another round of bullets, but a bunch of black arrows appeared out of her body and blocked the incoming projectiles. Then the arrows extended towards him. But from his back erupted black lances that intercepted them. The two forces collided in mid-air resulting in some kind of bizarre spider net-like construction. However, there was one arrow that Archer failed to block. Before he could react it drilled through his left leg, before turning sharply in an edge and impaled his heart.

"My, my, is that all the mighty Archer can do?", she taunted, before retracting the arrow, while Archer's lances dissolved into thin air. "And I had been so looking forward to our confrontation, what a disappointment." Archer fell to the ground.

"I… freaking… hate… the… occult", he squeezed out and Caster laughed.

"And you can't even ask your precious Master for help, because of my bounded field!"

'So', Archer mused, 'she blocked our means of communication without us even noticing?!'

"Oh, well. Then let's just get this over with!", Caster sighed and another barrage of black arrows appeared. "Good bye, Knight of the Bow." Then they shot forward.

But instead of turning Archer into a pincushion, they were blocked by the tiles, which were suddenly flying into the air and turning into a wall.

"Wa-?" Before she had time to register what just had happened, Archer quickly stood up and punched against them, making them fly at the surprised Caster. She managed to dive out-of-the-way just in time and the tiles crashed against the wall, shattering in countless pieces. Archer leaned forward, stomped onto the ground and soared towards his enemy. She sent out another wave of black arrows and Archer had to change his course in mid-air with an outburst of to cyclones to avoid getting impaled for a second time. Then he turned the black winds into his black spears and attacked Caster with them, while closing in on her at the same time.

Caster danced around the room, avoiding the spears and only using her arrows to block those, she couldn't avoid. Then she jumped out of the door of the room, before slamming it shut to use it as a shield against Archer's lances. Seriously, how could he still move like that?! Servants had no human body, so instead of physical wound, they received damage to their spiritual core. Of course, it still looked like a physical wound and they even bleed, but that was only on the surface. So, unless human, who had a lot of fatal points, Servants had only two: The heart and the brain. Both were directly connected to their spiritual core and thus every damage one received their, would be times greater than usual. So, how could he move around like that with such a fatal wound?! He wasn't a Lancer, so he shouldn't have **Battle Continuation** or at last not so high.

Suddenly Archer crashed through the wall right next to the door and Caster had to jump out-of-the-way to avoid getting hit by debris. But right now she had a clear view at his chest or to be precise, the hole on the centre of the left side of his chest. She could see that indeed she had pierced his heart. However, there was no blood gushing out of the wound. Instead, the blood continued to flow through the hole as if the circulatory system was still intact. Caster sent again arrows out to get her foe, but he jumped back, landed behind a table and kicked it, making it shot towards Caster with an insane amount of speed.

In front of her appeared a plate with an arrow on it, sending the table right back at its consignor, together with a bunch of chairs and cupboards, which all suddenly had an arrow plate appearing under them, pointing towards Archer. But as every piece of furniture was reflected right back. In multiple segments. But as they flew over the arrow plates, they stopped and just went back, the direction pointed in. Archer however decided against a game of ping-pong and just flew in directly, destroying any objects in his way. Caster created an arrow plate directly under him, but it only served to accelerate him further. In the blink of an eye she produced another plate, this directly under her, sending her to the side. Only moments later Archer reached the same plate. He however, was sent into the different direction.

'So that is how it affects him', she mused. 'I can use that.' All over the place appeared plates, one directly under Archer, sending him on a wild roller coaster, always flying into the opposite direction the plate pointed to. Additionally black arrows slithered over the ground like snakes, before rising up like spikes to impale the flying Archer. The Servant in question noticed it, abruptly stopped and shot fist-first towards the ground. When it hit the floor, it splintered it, together with the carpet and all arrow plates on it, spreading in a shockwave-like manner. However, it didn't stopped there. The complete ground shook and suddenly the earth around him raised upwards, together with all walls, furniture and debris of this three-level building, even going so far as to fly high up ten yards into the air. It was enough for Archer to see his Master again.

But what he saw there wasn't something he liked. It were Rider and Saber, who were assaulting Avenger and both of their Masters. Thanks to Caster's bounded field he didn't received the message from his Master that he had been under attack. But in turn Archer finally understood what had happened. Caster hadn't been spotted by Assassin. She let herself be spotted. She had done the same with the team from Rider to ensure that the both opposing forces would meet here, before she herself escaped. And when he turned around she indeed was gone, probably as a snake down the drainage. From the beginning on this had been a plan to destroy at last two of her opponents. Rider would ensure that there would be a fight and once it was started it wouldn't stop until one party was defeated or managed to escape, the latter nearly impossible. He berated himself for not seeing it sooner. He probably had been too much depending on his ability **Discernment of the Poor**. He had to change that the next time, but for now, he would have to defeat his enemy!

He shot into the air and kicked the flying house, sending it at Saber, making the enemy jump away, so that the fallen debris was between him and Avenger. Then he created his black streams from his back and sent them towards his opponent.

"You should have stayed home!", he shouted at the Knight of the Sword, starting to laugh in a not so sane way. "From now on, this is going to be a One-Way-Road!"

Saber parried the first black spear, ducked under the second one and jumped up to evade the third, landing on it and ran along it to reach up to the flying Archer. But now Archer was laughing madly, tripled the amount of streams and made them come out from different directions. He didn't noticed how his Master provided him with additional prana, healing the wound in his chest, as he was to fixed on his opponent. Saber was forced to jump down or risk getting impaled, but they followed him even to the ground.

"**_Kyōka Suigetsu (The Moon Reflected on the Surface of a Puddle)_**!" As the spears went through him, he turned into black smoke, just to suddenly reappear right next to Archer. But before the sword could hit Archer, he suddenly shot skywards, surprising the Knight of the Sword long enough to sent him crashing into the ground with a sudden gust of wind. Archer soon followed and rammed into the earth, shaking and shattering it around the impact site. But again Saber turned into black smoke. Archer looked around and saw him standing some yards away, his sword ready in his head.

"Hjyihehehe", Archer laughed as black whirlwinds erupted from his back, making him shot towards Saber, when suddenly, the world turned into a pink light.

When Archer regained his eye-sight, he was standing in a graveyard for dolls and toys. Suddenly a voice started to fill his head.

"Go home. Go home", it said. He felt as if something was gradually sucking away his strength. What's more, Archer ability was bound to calculations. With the voice inside his head, it would make it even more difficult to control his abilities. How could something like mental influences actually pass his Level 5-AIM field?

"Looks like Avenger irritated Rider enough to make her use her Reality Marble", Saber stated. I really don't want to fight you, while you are effected, too, but she might need me, so I'll do it!"

"Tch." That didn't looked so good. With the Reality Marble in place, they were at a disadvantage. It didn't seemed to make a difference between Master and Servant, so even Tokiomi and Volquart were effected. And Avenger got it even worse. It seemed she was completely out of it. What the hell did that bastard Assassin, now that they needed him!

* * *

Three minutes earlier:

They had wanted to fight Caster. But when they arrived at the scene, someone else already had been there. Avenger, her Master and Tohsaka Tokiomi. At once Rider summoned her construct, picked Waver up and jumped together with him onto it, without asking him first. His shouts of 'Riiiiiiiideeeeeeeeer' were the only warning that Avenger got, before the giant spider rammed into the place, she stood.

Luckily for her this little warning gave her enough time to register the threat and jump out-of-the-way. She landed on top of her hands and pushed herself up to deliver a spinning-kick against Rider. Swiftly she turned the machine around and met her leg with the doll-like face. But the force behind Avenger's kick, was enough to sent the construct sliding over the ground and into the wall of the house.

Quickly Avenger made her way towards the down-pinned Servant, as the mouth opened and again the well-known sweets shot at Avenger. The Servant in question used the first as a stepping stone to become air-borne and in correlation with her skill **Acrobatics** jumped from one to the next, further reducing the distance between them, until she reached Rider's construct and delivered a downwards kick to its face, making it shot the next macaron into the ground. If Rider had used explosives or metal balls as projectiles, this surely would have destroyed the "cannon", but luckily for her she had used sweets and even though they were hard enough to hurt someone when they hit, they were still softer than the spider and so it was the macaron that splashed inside the mouth. However, that didn't stopped Avenger from advancing towards the still pinned down Servant and deliver a falcon punch right into the…

"**_Other Self (I Am the One Who Takes on Your Pain)_**!" A bright pink light and the scenery changed. Waver recognized it at once, he had, after all, seen it already.

"Reality Marble", he whispered in awe. No matter how many times he saw it, it was still impressive. Changing the reality like that wasn't something a human could do. Even Avenger was completely taken aback… wait. Something wasn't right here. Something about Avenger just screamed 'wrong' and it didn't had to do with Rider's Reality Marble. A strange wind was blowing, making her clothes flutter in a slowly rhythm. Her arms hang loose to her sides and a ring of purple light appeared above her head, moving downwards as if scanning her. When it hit the ground it first turned inwards and when it hit her feet, exploded outwards with a gust of wind.

"**_Gate Keeper Merry (The Door Between the Worlds)_**", she said in a quiet, emotionless voice. Is that her Noble Phantasm? Waver thought he was dreaming, but it looked like behind her some kind of doorway appeared, letting a glow out to the place were she was standing. Then around her hands key rings appeared, tinkling in the released wind. Her eyes with pupils in the shape of rectangles looked coldly at Rider. She lifted one of her hands and Rider shot forward with her mount. Whatever Avenger was going to do, she didn't wanted to witness it! Then the ground in front of them shattered to pieces. Then the mountains of toys and even the sky. Nothing remained intact in front of those eyes and instead left behind a black void. Rider screamed in agony, as her inner world was forcefully torn apart.

* * *

"What the hell?!" Archer wasn't the only one who thought, there had to be something wrong with his eyes. Waver just stared at the irregular Servant in front of him. A Reality Marble was the manifestation of one's own soul, brought into reality. Something like that was high-thaumaturgy, boarding on the line to True Magic. And it was a sight to behold. But Avenger… she destroyed it. Just like that. He looked down at the quivering Rider. Her mount had vanished together with the Reality Marble and he was standing on the ground, while she was kneeling, unable to even support herself. But that was to be expected. After all, Avenger just did destroy her Reality Marble.

Worry filled his mind. Of course Soul's themselves were nearly indestructible, as they are actual records of the world, anchored within a body. It lasts only as long as the lifespan of the body and once the body dies, the soul returns to the Root. But what Avenger did, was something completely different. She ignored the body and damaged the projection of Rider's soul and nobody could foretell, what consequences that would have! Would it regenerate? Or would it be damaged forever?! Would the soul maybe even rot prematurely?! Would she need to become a vampire or feed on souls to keep staying in this world?!

But Avenger wasn't finished yet. Quickly she made her way over towards them, to deliver the finishing blow. After attacking the Soul, now she would destroy the physical body. And Waver only could watch helplessly.

No, don't. He didn't wanted that. He stole the mantle of Alexander the Great from Kayneth el-Melloi Archibald to participate in the Heaven's Feel, gain the Holy Grail and show everybody that hard work could overcome heritage. But right now that all didn't matter. Right in front of him there was a little girl, hurting and trembling. A girl who clang onto him like a lifeline, but was still to stubborn to listen to anyone. A girl who defended him like a ferocious beast, when he was threatened but still looked at basic thaumaturgy with wonder.

It didn't matter that she wasn't human. It didn't matter she was a Heroic Spirit of legends. It didn't even matter that she was a demon. It didn't mattered that she might have tried to take control over him. Right now, she was just a little girl that needed help. Waver clenched his fist. She had always fought for him and when it was his turn what could he do?! Nothing! He was just a third generation magus that had on a whim decided to partake in a secret war. He didn't had any special abilities that could help them. The only thing he had were the Command Seals. That had to be enough. He held out his right hand towards Rider. It just had to be enough!

"_Rider, by the power of this Command Seal I order you, to survive!_" The Command Seals on his hand glowed and suddenly a bolt of pain went through his chest.

Avenger had just reached Rider. She jumped into the air, preparing to deliver a kick that would sent her flying, when suddenly something black crashed into her, throwing her back instead. She twisted in the air and landed on all fours, looking for the source of that attack. Imagine her surprise, when she identified it as Waver. But her surprise was nothing against the disbelief of the Master.

"Heeeee?!", he shouted out as he looked at his right arm. From the shoulder downwards he was wearing some kind of black metal armor. But instead of his hand now there was some kind of black column, made up out of a lot of slowly rotating segments, making its way all the way over to were Rider was. Now though the sudden weight pulled him forwards and he nearly hit Rider, when it crashed into the ground.

"What the fuck is that?!", Archer shouted. "Is in this fucking War anything that's normal?!"

"I don't think you are one to talk", Saber sweat-dropped, when he suddenly noticed a black cloud descending on Irisviel from behind.

"Watch out", he shouted and ran towards the homunculus, but was stopped by Archer. He used **_Kyōka Suigetsu_** to evade him and _Ougi Mekyō Shisui 'Sakura'_ to burn the swarm of bugs to a crisp. Protectively he stood in front of his substitute Master and grim analyzed the situation. It didn't looked good at all. Avenger effectively disabled Rider and Waver's new-found ability won't help him for long, especially if Archer decided to ignore him and concentrate on Waver. He doubted he would be able to hold him back. And Assassin – he had no doubt, the bugs were his doings – still hid somewhere. That made it three against one. And the best suited Noble Phantasm for that job, he couldn't use. He still had another Noble Phantasm, but that worked best against single opponents or groups of opponents that stuck together. So, no matter how you looked at it, they were in a pinch.

"Yo, how's it going!" Saber never thought he would be glad to hear _that_ voice.

"Tch!", Archer spat out. "Saver!" Indeed it was him. Above them, standing on a flying book was the Servant, waving towards them. But what caught his attention, was the girl standing beside him. She was waving, too.

"Hello, Saver", greeted Saber, "did you came to stop our fight again?"

"Jep, that's how it is", he affirmed. "So, what about it? Can't you stop for now?"

"I refuse!", Avenger loudly declared. "Right now we still have the upper hand! The next time we fight, they will know about my abilities and Rider won't summon her garden anymore! I will be completely useless!" Saber knew she was right. An ability to destroy Reality Marbles was certainly a powerful ability, just as a Reality Marble was powerful, but there weren't that much Servants with something like that in the first place. It was just as powerful, as it was rare. Even there being one Servant with a Reality Marble had already been a stroke of luck, but if Rider rehabilitated, they would be right at the beginning, this time without the prospect of dealing damage towards Rider with her Noble Phantasm.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that", Saver apologized, "but I still need Saber to kill off Caster." So that was the reason, why he interfered this time. Saber had the best ability, suited for killing Caster without killing the person she possessed. "Or can you kill an innocent child, just to kill her?!" Avenger became silent, while Archer became angry.

"Cut the crap, Saver!", he shouted. "You don't care one bit about the child! If you could, you already would have killed her! It's no secret that your fucking geis is the only thing restricting you!"

"Geis?", the girl at his side asked.

"Yeah, there are like unbreakable vows, just a tad bit more serious."

"And without this geis you would kill humans?"

"Oj, just because I am Saver, doesn't mean I have Stupid Good! I kill if necessary." The girl thought about it for a moment.

"I guess", she admitted. "But I don't feel comfortable, being the slave of a villain."

"First, I never said I was evil either. Second, I told you before it's Servant! Not slave! It can't count as slave if I only have three orders, remember?!" He held up his left hand. Like a red tattoo, there was a tree printed on it.

"And how can you say that always with such an uncaring expression?!" But the girl wasn't the only one to see his left hand.

"What the hell!", Archer shouted, Saber nearly let his sword drop and Volquart stumbled over his own feet and landed on his face. He had already problems seeing, as Saver was currently above him in the air and the sudden reveal messed up with his concentration, resulting in his sense of gravitation wrecking havoc again.

"What have you done, Saver?!", Tokiomi asked, his face clearly showing a mixture between disbelief and bewilderment.

"Oh, that? Well, yesterday I tried a summoning ritual. Guess what? It worked! Let me introduce you to Brawler, my Servant!"

"I am Kasukabe Yō. Please take care of me."

"I told you to introduce yourself with 'Brawler'!"

"Sorry, I forgot."

"Liar! You just didn't felt like following my orders!"

"Yes!" While Saver and Brawler were bickering, Rider finally looked up.

"No, that's impossible!" Waver was taken aback. Did Rider just talked?! But his Servant wasn't finished, yet. "It's impossible for an other self to have a second other self!" Saver stopped talking with Brawler and looked down at her.

"Only magi can summon Servants, that's true, but if the Servant is also a magi… by the way, what's an other self?", he asked her. "Is it something like Nursery Rhyme?"

"A-aren't Servant and other selves the same?"

"Servants are heroes summoned from past and future. There might be some more other selves around them, but for the most part they are humans."

"No, that's not true, you are lying, you have to be lying…" It looks like she was having an even more serious breakdown than when Avenger destroyed her Reality Marble.

"Archer", Tokiomi addressed his Servant.

"What?", came an annoyed reply.

"Defeat Saver!" He could understand Saver. He had told them that thanks to his special skill he could regenerate mana faster than everybody else. So now that his Master was on an adequate level to supply him with mana, he could support another Servant with his own reserves. That in turn increased his chances to get the Holy Grail. And that was exactly why he couldn't let that slide. No matter how you looked at it that was gaining an unfair advantage over the others through breaking the rules.

"Oh? So we are going to fight after all? I kinda thought, we all could just get along?" Saver sounded amused. He walked one step forward off the book and fell down. Still in the air he touched his shoes and two white wings erupted from them, resulting in him landing on the earth, without any impact and instead as gentle as a dove. He took out a book.

"Please look closely, Brawler", he told his Servant, "and tell me afterwards, if this is like your version of the Grail Wars!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Thanks to the faulty summoning Brawler has no knowledge about the Holy Grail War and the current era from the Grail. However, those who recognized her, will know that she already has experience with something similar and comes from a time, where she wouldn't receive a culture shock. And the others can easily look it up now.

Archer has no protection from Caster's arrow, because even though they are called 'Vectors' they are actually not vectors, but objects made out of an occult element, maybe Darkness or something else, not Dark Matter. The Vector Plates though are overall really just vectors, making him reflect them. And placing plates facing in the opposite direction is easier than retracting ones hand just at the right moment.

Regarding Waver's new-found ability, it's actually a Noble Phantasm that activated when Waver voiced his desire to protect Rider. It was not necessary to sacrifice a Command Seal, although it clearly helped. And before you ask, no that Noble Phantasm is not something she had in her anime, but some of you might figure out the references and why I decide to give her that. The type of the power I have taken from the card "Tower", because for someone who is supposedly having a revolutionary idea, he is firmly believing that the others are wrong and quickly shaken if something doesn't happen like he planned it. If you disagree please feel free to sent me a message.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS****: ****Archer**

Master: Tohsaka Tokiomi

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: E

Endurance: B

Agility: E

Mana: E

Luck: C

Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: B

Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Independent Action: A+

Servant can remain in this world indefinitely even without a Master. However, in order to activate his Noble Phantasm, it is necessary to first acquire an extra supply of prana from alternative sources.

Skills

Eye of the Mind (True): C

Capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. So long there is even a 5% chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning.

Discernment of the Poor: A

He will not be deceived by excuses and deceptions from words.

Noble Phantasm

_**Noble Phantasm #1**_

Rank: A; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

An ability that allows to manipulate any object that comes into contact.

* * *

**CLASS****: ****Caster**

Master:

True Name:

Sex: female

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Mana: B

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: B+

Class Abilities

Territory Creation: A

is the skill to build a special terrain that is advantageous to oneself as a magus.

Creation of a "Temple", which is superior to a "Workshop", becomes possible.

Item Creation:

Skills

Presence Concealment: C

Is the capacity to hide one's presence as a Servant.

It is more difficult to be perceived as long as there is no intent of attacking.

Disengage: D

Is the ability to break away from combat.

Running away from a fight becomes rather easy.

Body Possession:

Is a skill that allows to possess other beings, making use of some of their power.

Deception Expert: A

Is the ability to fool the people around oneself.

At this Rank Caster is immune to the ability "Discernment of the Poor"

Vector Magic: A+

A thaumaturgy branch that utilizes arrows and directions in a fight.

Caster can produce thousands of arrows and controlling them at once.

Noble Phantasm

**Black Blood: There Is no Fun in Sanity**

Rank: B+; Anti-Unit; Range: 1; Targets: 1 person

A big Syringe that infuses a target with a black substance, causing it to become as strong as a minor Heroic Spirit. The target gains parameters of Rank D, except Strength and Agility, which increase to C, if the target gave its consent and the abilities "Battle Continuation" Rank D and "Mad Enhancement" Rank D. Furthermore, the blood of the target becomes black in color and impenetrable to everything that is not a Noble Phantasm. If the target is infected longer than 72 hours, it also gains the ability "Blood Control" Rank B.

* * *

**CLASS****: ****Saber**

Master: Irisviel von Einzbern

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: B

Endurance: A

Agility: B

Mana: C

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: B

Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Riding:

Skills

Charisma: C

Is the natural talent to command an army. Increases the ability of allies during group battles.

Noble Phantasm

**Meikyō Shisui: Ripples on the Surface**

Rank: C; Anti-Army; Range: 0-20; Targets: 200 people

A technique that shifts oneself into the blind spots of ones opponents.

**Kyōka Suigetsu: The Moon Reflected on the Surface of a Puddle**

Rank: B; Anti-Army; Range: 0-20; Targets: 200 people

**Nenekirimaru: The Ancestral Shrine Round Cut Off**

Rank: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Phantasmal/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-2; Targets: 1

A Japanese katana. After cutting, the sword places a curse on its victim, forcing it to rapidly losing health and refusing the wound to close.

* * *

**CLASS: ****Rider**

Master: Waver Velvet

True Name:

Sex: female

Strength: C

Endurance: B

Agility: A+

Mana: A

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Riding: A

All creatures but those of _Phantasmal Beast_ and _Divine Beast_-rank can be used as mounts.

Magic Resistance: B

Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Skills

Mental Pollution: D

Provides a small probability that mental interference magecraft will be rendered ineffective. In the condition that the Servant's master is of Evil alignment, and perpetrates acts of cruelty against the Servant, Mental Pollution will increase in rank, further increasing defenses against magecraft. However, as the Servant's psyche is inherently broken, this may result in irreversible deterioration.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1_**

Rang: C; Anti-Army; Range: 1-99; Targets: 1000 people

A giant spider-like construct with wheels, capable of high-speed movements and turns. It is also capable of firing an unlimited amount of macarons from its mouth.

**Another: I Am the One Who Takes on Your Pain**

Rang: B; Anti-Team; Range: 30-99; Targets: 1000 people

Rider's Reality Marble. Enemies inside it will hear voices which results in a loss of concentration and decreased reaction speed. Especially effective against those with the skill "Mad Enhancement".

**_Noble Phantasm #3_**

Rang: A; Anti-Unit; Range: 10; Targets: 1 person

If Rider is in peril and a person she holds dear, wants to help her, the person in question will then gain a power corresponding to the card of the Major Arcana the person is most compatible with.

* * *

**CLASS****: Avenger**

Master: Volquart Weissbach

True Name:

Sex: Female

Strength: A

Endurance: E-

Agility: D

Mana: E-

Luck: E-

Noble Phantasm: D

Class Abilities

None

Skills

Acrobatics: A

Is the ability to use acrobatic feats in air combat.

Additionally the Agility of Avenger is raised by two ranks as long as Avenger is airborne.

Noble Phantasm

**Gate Keeper Merry: The Door Between the Worlds**

Rank: D; Anti-Army; Range: 0-99; Targets: 1 area

An ability that destroys the current Reality Marble or other supernatural area creations that Avenger stands in and damages the owners Soul. The higher the destroyed mystery, the greater the damage. It does not work on a place that was adjusted with something akin to Territory Creation Rank C or less.


	17. Chapter 16: The True Face of the Savior

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for you reviews!

**Zarbapha**: Her ability is mainly enhancing her physical capabilities at first. And regarding Saver… well, you'll see.

**Guy**: For me, there is no such thing as nitpicking if it comes to facts about the universe I am trying to make a story of. If you noticed some fault that I not explicit stated as 'changed for the sake of the story' I am really glad, if someone points that out towards me. However, I looked up Caladbolg II in Type Moon Wiki and it states that it is the sword of Cú Chulainn's foster-father Fergus mac Róich and that thanks to a geis – I am going to use this spelling from now on – Cú Chulainn has "to be defeated at last once by this sword if the wielder is Ulster-born." Now since I have no way to get the original legends I will stick to what the Type Moon Wiki says.

Chapter 16: The True Face of the Savior

"Please look closely, Brawler", he told his Servant, "and tell me afterwards, if this is like your version of the Grail Wars!" The book in his hand was different from the others he had used before. They all had been made out different colored paper and parchments. But this one looked like it was made out of human skin. The cover even had the relief of a human head with a blindfold. What's more, it completely felt wrong, like it was something that was should never have existed.

"**_Prelati's Spellbook (Text of the Sunken Spiraled City)_**!" The pages started to rapidly flipped by themselves and at once dark starfish-like creatures appeared out of nowhere attacking the assembled Servants.

"_Intensive Einäscherung_!" A wave of flame spread out from the staff, burning some of them to a crisp. But out of the corpses of the old ones spammed new ones, going again after the magus. Saver took to the sky, to evade a cloud of insects that had been sent by Assassin. They tried to follow, but were stopped by even more of those creatures.

"Go after him", Assassin, who had finally decided to show himself, told Archer while Avenger smashed one with her fist and Volquart used some wind-based spell to cut another one in half, "we will hold out for now!" Whirlwinds appeared on Archer's back and he flew up to confront Saver. Saber used his Noble Phantasm to vanish, just to reappear next to Irisviel, pick her up and vanish again. But Rider still hadn't snapped out of her shock, so her Master put his left arm around her and somehow managed to retract his mechanized arm, just to point at the ground in front of him. It shot out again, hitting the ground and made him fly backwards through the recoil. After that he somehow made it vanish and carried the put out Rider completely with her battle-gear in bridal-style away.

"Nice for you to join me", Saver casually chatted with Archer. "Oh, looks like Assassin noticed."

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Oh, the horrors come from the sacrifices of living and dead creatures. Using an army of bugs against them will just increase the numbers!" Indeed, instead of using a lot small bugs, he now switched to using fewer, but in exchange a lot larger bugs.

'Well', Archer realized, 'That just means, I have to kill this bastard quickly!' The whirlwinds exploded and sent him racing towards Saver. Saver used his own wings to gain high, while throwing a set of three Black Keys. But when those swords hit Archer, they were shattered to pieces, without even slowing the Servant down.

"**_Dr. Fausts vierfacher Höllenzwang (To Control the Ghosts of the Four Elements)_**. _Ventus_!" He had taken out another book and suddenly an eagle, made out of winds flew towards Archer. The tornados on Archer's back shot forwards and ripped the eagle to shreds. Now Saver waved his right hand and suddenly in front of him appeared a magic circle, made out of five rows of runes were the first and third and fifth rotated clock-wise and the second and fourth counter-clock wise. Now a bunch of icicles flew out from the circle and shot towards Archer. Again they were destroyed, but every shard turned into an icicle themselves and shot towards the Servant, who was forced to dive away. Saver didn't let loose and rotated his body, together with the magic circle to continuously sent out a cross-fire of icicles, while Archer flew circles around his opponent. Then Saver waved with both at his hands towards his sides and two new magical circle appeared, again made out of five rings of runes. Out of them shot metal spikes that after flying some yards, suddenly turned around in the air and in an explosion of flames, shot into their next direction, homing in on the surprised Archer.

"Tch!" Black streams erupted from his back and knitted themselves together around him, to form a dome, blocking the incoming attacks. "Hyeeeeeeeeeeh!" The streams burst out towards Saver, who took out another book.

"**_Casa Di Logistilla (Destruction Declaration)_**!" He held the book out in front of him and the black spears were blocked by it, but in exchange pinned it down in place.

"Wa-? How?", Saver let go of it and took out another. "**_Höllenzwang (To Call upon the Devil)_**!" A black poodle suddenly appeared, flying towards Archer. As soon as it appeared, Archer sent out lances to intercept it, but as they hit the dog, he just dispersed to form himself anew at a different place. Archer clicked his tongue and sent out waves of air current against the familiar.

"It couldn't be…", Saver suddenly exclaimed, "…**_Arbre de la ciència, Arbor Scientiae (All Science Is Connected)_**!" Archer ignored the poodle for now and went for its Master. Saver spun around, letting his hands flew through the air and around him appeared what seemed to be a cocoon made out of runes. Archer clenched his fist to punch at the phenomenon, only to pass right through it.

"Stay quiet!", complained Saver in a mocking tone of voice. "I'm reading." Archer couldn't believe what just happened. Could this fucking Servant make himself intangible whenever he wanted to?! That wasn't what was special, but this guy had his fucking Noble Phantasm still out! A Servant wasn't supposed to be able to even interact with the physical world while in fucking Spirit Form! Besides, didn't he said he was incapable of turning into Spirit Form?! But the surprises didn't stopped there. Although the next one was for Saver.

"What the hell!", Saver cried out. "**_Vector Change (The Deadly Basics of Science)_**?! That's just unfair!" Now it was Archer's turn to be freaked out again:

What the hell? Did his book just told him his Noble Phantasm?! The summoned demons in the shape of starfishes stopped, allowing the others to take a breath and Tokiomi to contemplate on what Saver just had revealed.

**'**Vector… Change? Weren't vectors those arrows used in mathematics and physics? What would an ability that changes those actually be?!' Ironically the answer to this question came from Saver as he read out load, what was written in his book:

"Rank: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self. Range: 0; Maximum Number of Targets: 1; Vector Change is an Extrasensory Perception close to a Mystic Body, artificially created through the use of drugs and experiments. It allows for control over the direction and amount of every vector, like for example force, weight and speed, that hits the user's body. This in turn allows to reign over all solids, liquids and gases in the vicinity, even including the Fifth True Theoretical Element, Dark Matter. Seriously, what the hell? This guy can put the Ultimate Ones to sleep!"

Tokiomi was gasping. He couldn't help it. First his Servant was revealed to be a Psychic. A person with an abnormal perception of the world, allowing for the control over supernatural phenomena. But it was a well-known fact that you had to be born with those powers, yet this boy had gained them artificially! That was supposed to be impossible! And then his ability itself! As a magus he couldn't quite grasp what the first part meant, but control over all matters, even an element that he never heard of?! And somehow his ability was supposed to work wonders on Crimson Moon, the First True Ancestor and origin of all vampires and ORT, the alien existence that corrupted the earth it was standing on! How could have a human, even a Heroic Spirit, have such power?!

Saver calmed down enough for him to read further.

"Right, let's see here…weaknesses… now that's interesting! Do you want me to read that out loud Archer?!" The Servant in question clicked his tongue as Saver smiled at him through the gasps in his dome. The problem with his ability was that it had two major flaws. And Saver threatened to reveal them to the public and thus to all other Servants. Even though he had been ordered to annihilate him, thanks to Saver's runes he wouldn't be able to do it before he read his weaknesses out loud. Furthermore, he was running out of time! So he landed on the earth, grabbed his crutch and deactivated the switch of the electrode.

"We are going!", he declared and his Master didn't disagreed. Saver let the starfishes as well as the rune dome vanish.

"Great!", Saver exclaimed. "You don't know how much prana this thing takes!" Archer snorted.

"Shouldn't you be more worrying about your own fucking Servant?", he pointed towards the flying book. Brawler… didn't looked good. She was kneeling at the book, clutching her head and was looking downwards onto the paper, but with a look full of agony and fear. Quickly Saver flew towards her.

"Oj, Brawler, you alright?!" Brawler slowly looked up.

"…what… were… those?!"

"The Horrors?! Well, they are demons from a completely different dimension. I know they don't exactly feel right, but if they have such a big effect on you, you should probably withdraw from this war…" Then he suddenly noticed the pendant hanging around her neck. It had slipped out of her shirt when she had bent over.

"…wait!", he exclaimed, "Is that…" She noticed his gaze and quickly tucked the pendant back under her shirt. But he had already seen it.

"I see", he said, "so that's the reason, why you had such a bad affinity with those Horrors. Alright, alright, I promise, I won't use them anymore when you're around, alright?" Brawler nodded weakly and Saver let the book rose up in the sky.

"Now let's get back to our Master", he exclaimed, "he is probably already sick with worry!"

* * *

Tokiomi hadn't said anything when they had left, but he still was curious about what kind of weaknesses the ability of his Servant had, if he was compelled to even leave the battlefield and not to destroy the one, who knew about his weaknesses. Archer clicked his tongue when his Master asked that question out loud.

"Moreover, I would really like to know, why you didn't told us about something that crucial", Tokiomi finished his rant. "If one opponent through a stroke of luck somehow managed to find it out, it could have compromised our whole alliance!"

"Tch. Exactly! The fucking Number 5 could control thoughts! If someone like that were to be summoned here you'd no fucking chance, keeping that a secret from her!"

"I see, that is certainly right", Tokiomi admitted. "Do you want to keep them still a secret now that Saver knows?"

"Tch. My ability has two major weaknesses. The first is of no concern to you, but I think I should tell you the second one: I am always working on a time limit."

"Excuse me? Could you please elaborate that further?"

"Tch. I can use my ability only as long as the fucking battery on this thing is running!", he told them, while pointing at the choker-style electrode around his neck. "It lasts for 30 minutes, then I need to recharge." He pointed at his equipment. "Any more questions?!" All present answered in the negative except Volquart.

"Do you have to rely on the choker, because you are an artificial psychic?" The aspect of artificial psychics intrigued him. Whom wouldn't they? They were human who gained supernatural abilities through sudden mutations, but Archer proofed that someone had been able to artificially duplicate the effects. But Archer seemed a little bit disgruntled by that question.

"What the hell do you mean? I only need this damn electrode, because I caught a fucking bullet with my brain!" What? He got shot into the brain and was still alive? Psychics were really powerful!

"The only thing that differentiates espers with your versions of Psychics is the **Magical Allergy** Skill!"

'So that was it', Tokiomi mused, 'Archer couldn't use magecraft, because he wasn't a natural, but an artificial Psychic. But that had to mean… that those artificial Psychics weren't created through means of thaumaturgy, but science!' That was unbelievable! Was the science of the future really capable of something that thaumaturgy couldn't?! What a revelation! Maybe he should heed Kirei's advice and look a little bit more into the current scientific achievements.

* * *

"I can't believe we got away", Waver muttered as he was sitting in the Einzbern Castle, his Servant next to him, trying to catch his breath.

"Saver is really difficult to figure out", Saber admitted. "Just why did he really helped us?"

"Because he would lose, if the last two Servants left would be him and Caster, even with his summoned Brawler", Kiritsugu, who just came into the room, explained. "That's why he is going to keep as much Servants around as possible until Caster is defeated."

"Great", Waver groaned, "and it's just our luck that the best suited Servant to deal with him is on the hit list." His gaze fell upon his own Servant. "Are you alright?" Rider still looked out of it. Somehow what Saver did had a lasting shock on her. Suddenly she abrupt turned around and looked Waver into the eye and in his mind he heard her voice:

'Are you my human counterpart?' The voice sounded pleading and Waver would have liked to do nothing more than to agree, but he couldn't. She already knew the answer, so lying would not help her.

"No, I am not", he admitted. "At last I don't think I am, I am your Master."

'What is a Master?'

"A Master is someone who made a contract with a Heroic Spirit."

'What is a Heroic Spirit?'

"People who did so great things in life that after their death they are placed outside of the usual cycle of transmigration and ascend to an existence closer to a Divine Spirit."

'You mean… I died?!'

"Not necessarily", Saber butted in, "I am still alive, too." Waver was understandable surprised. First, because he didn't thought, someone could become a Heroic Spirit without dying first and seconds, Saber answered a question that had appeared in _his_ mind. Could he read their minds?! But then he remembered! Rider had the skill **Telepathy** A+. With this she could even sent messages towards people who weren't her Master.

'Are you an other self?', Rider asked Saber mentally, but Waver could still hear her.

"What is an other self?", Saber asked back.

'Other selves… are the inhabitants of the Otherworld. They possess a connection to one human. They take on the pain of said human.'

"What do you mean?", Irisviel inquired.

'We hurt, so they don't hurt.'

"You mean…", Waver realized. She really was a demon. But she was different from others. Her only purpose of existence was to take on the pain of one certain person, not asking anything in return. But that also meant…

"… you thought I was your human counterpart? Why?"

'I thought the Holy Grail War was a battle, where everybody participant summoned their other self to fight in their stead. That the Servants would not just take on their emotional pain, but their physical as well.'

"…but shouldn't you have received the knowledge regarding this war from the Grail?", Saber wondered. "I did."

'…'

'…'

'…'

'I didn't.' Now that was worrying. Did Waver somehow made mistakes at his Servant summoning? It would explain, why he had summoned a demon instead of a human. Then again, maybe summoning a demon was the cause for the missing information.

"Then what are going to wish from the Holy Grail?", he asked her.

'…wish?'

"The winner of this War gets the Holy Grail, a powerful wish-granting device. This is the reason for the battle in the first place."

'My wish… All I want is to protect my human counterpart.'

"Is it so bad that I am not your human counterpart?" Waver didn't knew why, but somehow he was disappointed and a bit sad. Unconsciously his head moved towards his chest, where a line of stitches in form of a heart had appeared. "Isn't it enough that I am your Master?"

'…maybe…?' Any further conversation came to a halt, when Maiya entered the room.

"We have a message from the supervisor", she jumped straight to the point. "He wants a second meeting between all Masters!"

* * *

"Greetings, Masters of the Holy Grail War! I have called you, as urgent news have reached my ears. We have found evidence that the Servant Saver has summoned his own Servant called Brawler. Not only did he summon his own Servant, he also did so after the original number of Servants was already filled. This is not possible without modifying the Holy Grail War itself and thus a clear break of the rules set after the third War! Consequently I have judged that Saver is a danger towards the Heaven's Feel ritual and for that…"

"**_Schindler's Liste (One Who Saves One Person Saves the World)_**!" Risei stopped. He knew that voice. Slowly he turned around to look a smiling Saver into the eye.

"Yo", the Servant greeted, "how's it going, Risei."

"Saver. What are you doing here?" Of course, the supervisor had a really clear idea, why the irregular Servant would visit him at a time like this. "And where did you left your Servant?"

"Oh, Brawler? She's baby-sitting Shirou. I think he's introducing her to Cooro and Yuki. And for why I am here… well, I've heard you wanted a meeting of all Masters and so I decided to come here, before you do something stupid like putting a bounty on my head."

"I see. I knew you had a way to go around the effects of **_Un souvenir de Solférino (All Man Are Brothers)_**. Did you came to kill me?"

"Huh? What are ya talking about? **_Un souvenir de Solférino (All Man Are Brothers)_** effects even work on me. I couldn't kill ya, if I wanted to!"

"Then why are you here?"

"I told you, to stop you from placing a bounty on my head. And guess what? I already did?"

"What?!" Risei's gaze fell upon the paper in Saver's hand. "Saver, what did you did this time?!"

"In the second world war, at the times of the National Socialism, there had been a person called Oskar Schindler. He was one of the few who used his authority as a member of the Nazi party to employ over thousand Jews in his factories, saving them in the process. I think you call that a **Righteous Among the Nations**. But as he was still a member of the Nazi party, he was afraid of being hunted by the Allied Forces after the war ended. The feelings of all the people he saved and who didn't wanted him to be punished for his selfless actions, transmigrated into the document he created to save them. Thus **_Schindler's Liste (One Who Saves One Person Saves the World)_** does not allow its owner to be hunted by any authority, regardless if it is just or not!"

"No way… a forced geis?!" Activating this Noble Phantasm had been no combat activity, but instead prevented him from assuring them and thus **_Un souvenir de Solférino (All Man Are Brothers)_** didn't stopped its effects.

"Exactly! So now that I have done, what I came for, it's time for me to go! See ya later!"

"No way", Tokiomi couldn't believe the information he received through his familiar. They had underestimated Saver. Badly. It was true that his Master was just a boy, learning magecraft only thanks to his Servant. It was true that he stopped most fights before they became too heated. It was true he had a geis placed on himself that didn't allowed him to kill humans. It was true that he hated Caster with a passion. It was true that he saved that one victim of Caster and gave Kirei a powerful Noble Phantasm. It was true that he had only teach him his Master standard thaumaturgy.

But all these actions were nothing against what he was really capable of. But Tokiomi didn't saw it. Even as Saver admitted the only interest in Tokiomi for him was to train Akage, even as Saver admitted that he would kill humans, if it wasn't for his geis, even as Saver admitted to have broken the rules and summoned his own Servant, even as Saver fought against them and threatened to reveal Archer's weaknesses, if they didn't stopped, he didn't saw it. But now he knew without a question that Saver was definitely the most dangerous Servant in the entire Heaven's Feel. Ruthless, calculating, manipulating. That was the true face of the so called Servant Saver.

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Now we finally saw Saver in a real fight. Some of you might wonder where the runes come from, will maybe remember that Saver has the skill **High-Speed Writing** and makes good use of it in this chapter.

Regarding the Fifth True Theoretical Element, it had never been classified, what it is. So, I wondered, if Ether, the Fifth Imaginary Element, is the magical element that fills the vacuum, then the scientific Element that fills the vacuum and thus the Fifth True Theoretical Element, wouldn't it be Dark Matter? Following this line of reasoning, Archer is indeed the best suited to deal with aliens or other beings with a body of Ether.

And about Rider, if you think about it, there is probably no way for her to accept participation in the Holy Grail War and go hunt others. She just isn't that interested in a wish in the first place. So Angra Mainyu decided to temper a bit with the information she received from the Grail to make her fighting. It's not farfetched as the founders deliberately did not include the knowledge about the true original purpose of the Fuyuki Grail War.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS: ****Archer**

Master: Tohsaka Tokiomi

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: E

Endurance: B

Agility: E

Mana: E

Luck: C

Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: B

Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Independent Action: A+

Servant can remain in this world indefinitely even without a Master. However, in order to activate his Noble Phantasm, it is necessary to first acquire an extra supply of prana from alternative sources.

Skills

Eye of the Mind (True): C

Capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. So long there is even a 5% chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning.

Discernment of the Poor: A

He will not be deceived by excuses and deceptions from words.

Noble Phantasm

**Vector Change: The Deadly Basics of Science**

Rank: A; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

It is an Extrasensory Perception close to a Mystic Body. It allows for control over the direction and amount of every vector that hits the user's body.

* * *

**CLASS: Assassin**

Master: Kotomine Kirei

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: D

Endurance: D

Agility: C

Mana: B

Luck: C

Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Presence Concealment: A+

It is possible to disappear completely and become almost impossible to be detected. However, efficiency will decrease once preparations to attack are taken.

Skills

Military Tactics: B

Is tactical knowledge used not for one-on-one combat situations, but for battles where many are mobilized.

The Servant gains a small bonus in all parameters during use of one's own _Anti-Army_ Noble Phantasm or when dealing against an enemy _Anti-Army_ Noble Phantasm.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1_**

Rank: B; Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

Allows to control different kind of bugs.


	18. Chapter 17: Cockroaches

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you for your review, coronadomontes.

Chapter 17: Cockroaches

He could see a seventeen year old boy with white hair, wearing a white coat with white fur at its collar. He was climbing a giant set of staircases. Step by step. Steadily walking towards the peak, where a giant red gate, which usually was seen in front of Japanese shrines, stood. In the sky behind that was clearly visible the sun. But parts were already covered by a black shadow.

'The moon', Kayneth realized. 'This is a solar eclipse!' When the boy passed the gate, everything became black.

* * *

He was looking at a clean hospital room. But even though it was clean it was more welcoming than the ones he knew. For once, the walls were not white but in a friendly light brown and on the small cabinet beside the bed with white sheets were flowers. In the bed itself sat Brawler. But she was not wearing her usual clothing, but white sleep wear. Next to her on a stool sat a middle-aged man talking to her. Saver could not see his face as his back turned towards him, but Brawler seemed at ease with this person and was smiling.

Suddenly the man stood up and reached over to her. Saver could not see what the man did, but soon the man stepped back again and Saver could see now an amulet hanging around her neck. Saver recognized it as the one he had seen after his first real fight.

Now a calico cat jumped onto the bed and Brawler cuddled it full of affection. Then the man held out his hand towards her and she grabbed it. Slowly she moved towards the side, put her feet at the ground and stood up.

'Interesting… so that's the birth of a Heroic Spirit', mused Saver.

* * *

After Saver had used his Noble Phantasm on the supervisor, he hadn't been able to promise a Command Seal for the one to defeat him and had to finish the meeting without letting it fulfill its purpose. Of course everybody knew now what Saver had done, but it was still not the same as the promise of a Command Seal. There had been no major get-together for all Master to defeat Saver as everybody still kept to themselves. For now Saber and Irisviel were again walking down their favorite shopping mail on search for groceries. Well, at first that is. But after that…

"What do you say, Saber? Don't you think this suit fits you really well?" Saber sweat-dropped.

"Isn't it a bit too formal?" He just couldn't comprehend why the wife of his Master had so much fun dressing him up. He wondered if she did it with her own daughter, too.

"Hmm. Maybe you are right. But shouldn't you be used to dressing up formally?"

"Wa? Why would you say that?!"

"Aren't you the heir of a yakuza clan?"

"Wa? Well, you could say that… how did you know?"

"Oh, you were talking about your clan and territory battles, it wasn't so difficult to figure out."

"I see… now that you say that it sounds silly… Is it only me or did this shop suddenly became rather empty?" Irisviel looked around. Indeed it was nobody else around, not even a shop assistant. Suddenly Saber jumped between Irisviel and the exit, drawing his blade.

"Be careful", he told her, "there is someone coming!" Soon enough a figure walked through the entrance. He was a dark tanned young man, wearing some kind of black ninja amour. His long black hair swayed behind him as he spoke towards them:

"Oh, so you were already awaiting me. As expected of a Heroic Spirit. My greetings, Saber, Miss Einzbern." Irisviel tensed noticeable.

"Who are you?", she demanded to know. "And what do you want from us?"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. You can call me Gaichuu Kotaru! And I don't exactly want anything from _you_. Just your little Servant in front of you!"

"Me? What do you want from me?"

"Well, you see, I really need that Grail but without a Servant I can't get it."

"You want me to become your Servant?! Why do you think, I would do something like that?!"

"There's no harm in asking, right? Besides, you just might want to consider that option a bit more. You know, it would be such a shame, if you were to lose your Master just like that!" Saber tensed.

"Are you threatening her?"

"Now why would I do that? But you sure have to admit that it's a little bit dangerous for a Master to walk around without adequate protections."

"So, you think a Servant isn't enough?! You sure are confident in yourself!"

"Well, I am not like your everyday magus…", he said. His hair swayed in front of him, completely covering his hand. When the hair swayed back, he suddenly held two short blades of black color in his hands. "… and it's not like you're at full power either, right?!" Saber attacked. He didn't knew, how Gaichuu found it out, but that didn't mattered at the moment. Right now one of his companions was in danger and he had to protect her! Saber's sword met Gaichuu's left-hand blade. Quickly the Servant had to jump back as his opponent swiftly attacked him with his right one, clearly surpassing standard human limits. If Saber had to categorize his Agility it would be Rank D. That was bad as right now as his own Agility was only Rank E+ at the moment. That was the problem of his **Double Identity** and his greatest weakness.

'Quick!' He told her through their metal link while taken out a wooden stick to be able to block both blades simultaneously. 'Retreat further inside!' Even with two weapons Saber wasn't able to advance against his opponent and had to retreat further and further. But that was exactly what Saber had planned. In the semi-darkness of the shop he could finally activate the "+" in his Rank. If Rank E was equivalent to the capacity of ten humans and D was equivalent to 20 humans, then the "+" indicated a doubling under certain circumstances. And in the case of his Standard-Form all his E+ ranked Parameters were raised within twilight, evening the playing field a little.

Gaichuu nearly got skewered, when Saber suddenly rushed towards him with twice his usual speed. Gaichuu bent backwards, landed on his hands and pushed himself away. His feet landed on the wall and he used the force from the maneuver to bent his legs and like a springboard shoot out against Saber. But this time the Servant saw him coming. He discarded his wooden stick and grabbed his blade with both hands. He just had no experience with fighting with two swords. Trying to emulate his opponent wouldn't do him any good. He just had to be skilled enough to block both his opponent's weapons with one katana.

Saber took a strong horizontal swing that Gaichuu blocked with his right blade. But even though that saved him from the edge of **_Nenekirimaru (The Ancestral Shrine Round Cut Off)_**, it didn't saved him from the force of the blow. And since he was airborne, he had no footing to stop him from flying to the side. Saber used this opportunity to jump after him, not wanting to lose the upper hand again. But before he reached Gaichuu…

"_Shape ist Leben_!", he heard Irisviel shout and risked a gaze behind. There she stood, some kind of net made out of silver glowing threats around her waving through the surroundings, cutting through an army of cockroaches that had tried to ambush her. And in her hand… was that a can of bug spray?! Well, it looked like Gaichuu really had some underhanded tactics up his sleeves but it failed against the homunculus.

But on the other hand this short pause allowed Gaichuu to regain his bearings, land and come after Saber with new vigor. His playful demeanor now gone, as the Master herself destroyed his trap and like a whirlwind he let his blades dance onto the Servants figure. Blow for blow Saber matched his opponent, blocking the first and keeping out of reach of the second. It was a dangerous endeavor but he managed to do it. Luckily for him, he had experience fighting against opponents wielding one weapon in each hand. All the training against his instructor bared fruit. Even if they had mostly concentrated on polishing his abilities, he had insisted on some sword-play-only sessions. And that came in handy right now.

Grinding his teeth his opponent noticed it, too. Screaming in outrage, his hair suddenly went forward, turning into blades similar to the ones in his hands. Saber jumped back to avoid being skewered by the countless swords but one still managed to cut him across his cheek. What now followed was a hail of attacks. Saber felt like he was fighting Kidōmaru again and soon enough more and more wounds appeared on his body. The right arm, the left leg, the left shoulder, the right knee. Saber gritted his teeth. It was impossible. He realized it. He hadn't been able to defeat Kidōmaru on his own and he wouldn't be able to defeat Gaichuu on his own. That was a fact. There was only one option that was left for him. If you can't do one thing on your own, you just have to ask your friends for help, right?!

"**_Hyakki Yakō (My Night Parade of One Hundred Demons)_**!" Gaichuu's final strike was halted when suddenly the world was engulfed with pink cherry blossoms.

* * *

Kiritsugu felt the surge of prana rushing through the Command Seal, indicating the use of a Noble Phantasm. He was currently driving a car towards the place, Irisviel had went to shop. As soon as Saber had given him the mental message that they were currently under attack, he had jumped into his car. Of course, after Waver and Rider had set down in the back and Maiya on the passenger seat. If the opponent was a Servant that Saber couldn't defeat, he would need the assist of Rider. And from the amount of prana, Saber took from him, he had to activate a rather strong Noble Phantasm, indicating a strong opponent. He really hoped that whatever the Knight of the Sword did, it would be enough to either defeat the enemy, or stall them until they reached them.

* * *

When Irisviel was able to see again, she was standing inside a great Japanese-style courtyard. Next to her was a great cherry tree in full blossom and under that a pond. The sky was dark and cloudless, the full moon shining brightly upon them.

"It couldn't be…", Irisviel realized, "a Reality Marble?!" Another one? Was Saber a demon, too?! But he didn't had **Mental Pollution** like Rider! Gaichuu didn't fared better.

"No way! That's unfair!", he shouted pouting. "You are capable of creating a night-sky just like that?! Totally unfair!"

"Indeed", Saber affirmed, "I compliment you for finding out that I am not able to assume my Battle-Form at day. But your treacherousness ends here!" He closed the eyes and smiled. "Guys, it looks like I need your help again!" Suddenly Irisviel could feel a great surge of power and dread coming from behind, where some kind of fog gathered.

"You really can't do anything without us, can you?". A blond female chewing on a pick appeared out of the fog.

"You are always keeping up your incomprehensible requests!" A guy with a red headband followed.

"You can stay back if you want", a tall guy with blue clothes and a skull rosary said.

"Indeed, for this cockroach even one of us will be enough", a monk in black clothes added. More and more figures appeared out of the fog.

"Na, don't say that, soon he is going to need all of us", a green humanoid turtle made itself known. "Although it is a pity that he isn't able to call us outside this world. I really wanted to go sightseeing in Fuyuki!"

"You are always so carefree, Amezō." A girl with Chinese-styled pink hair and yellow clothes came forth, covering her mouth with one sleeve.

"It's not like I can't understand him", a monkey wearing clothes and a headband said. "We are supposed to fight legendary heroes, after all!"

"Stop nitpicking!", a voluptuous woman in a red Japanese clothing scolded and a teenage girl wearing white Japanese clothes and a scarf finished her thoughts:

"We all swear to protect Lord Rikuo, right?!"

"If it had been night, he wouldn't need our protection", a young man with a black scarf and his yellow-haired head _floating in the air above his neck_ claimed.

"True, true", a crow wielding monk clothes agreed, while folding its arms and nodding his head. Behind him flew three monks with black wings.

"But now he it's daytime, so he's just a little stronger than a human." That came from a rather normal looking guy in red clothes with black hair that covered the left side of his face. His companion that hid it's face behind a horse skull pondered about that.

"Didn't he defeated you in that form?", he asked him, but before the first one could yell at the second, a middle-aged man, with his right half of the face covered by his black hair, together with some loose strains on the left reprimanded them.

"I swore to follow him, wherever he goes", a red-hooded figure carrying a katana around expressed.

"We all did", a guy with blond hair and deep red eyes said.

"Not all of us", a young girl with short black hair and brown eyes disagreed. "Besides, aren't you ill? Shouldn't you stay in bed?"

"I am healthy enough to come when my sworn brother needs me!" His statement would had been more believable, if he hadn't started coughing blood.

"Guys…", Saber said, shaking his head, while an army of different creatures appeared. Gaichuu had been getting paler and paler the more showed themselves.

"No way", he stammered, "you are joking, you've gotta be joking! There is no way…" Suddenly realization dawned upon him. "**_Hyakki Yakō_**? You've said **_Hyakki Yakō_**, didn't you?…It can't be…Does that mean, you are Nurariyhon?!" Irisviel gasped. Nurarihyon. Even among Phantasmal Species Nurarihyon had been a legend. He was said to lead an army of yokai, Phantasmal Species originating from Japan that were more often falsify called demons. But nobody actually believed that he had existed. Compared to other Phantasmal Species, the records of him had been rather young, five hundred years at most. As Phantasmal Species grew stronger the older they became, it was unthinkable that someone of this age could be the leader of all others, some of them over thousand years old. And Saber was supposed to be this Phantasmal Species which even the magi were unsure about if it existed?! Saber turned towards Gaichuu and with a firm voice said:

"Allow me to introduce myself: I am the young leader of the Nura clan, the Great Yokai Yakuza Family of Eastern Japan, the grandson of Nurariyhon, Nura Rikuo!" With that Saber turned into his Battle-Form.

"G-Grandson?!" Irisviel couldn't believe her ears. That guy even had kids?! Gaichuu wasn't capable of forming a single sound. He took a step backwards and then another one. When he had attacked Irisviel and Saber this certainly wasn't anything he prepared for. An army of mystical creatures, all as strong as a minor Servant?! It was a fact: he would die. The only option left for him was to run and hold out until the Servant ran out of prana to keep up the Reality Marble. A rather hopeless plan. But it was still his only chance. He turned around and came face to face with a man which front was covered in paper slips with Japanese symbols on them. Before he could even react, the man swung his katana and cut him in half. Gaichuu's face still showed surprise as his upper body fell to the ground.

"Oi, Jami!", the monk wearing the skull necklace shouted. "What do you think you are doing!"

"As long as the enemy is defeated it doesn't matter which one did it, right?" Out of the pond stuck a head with an eggshell on top of it. Saber smiled.

"Thank you guys", he told them, "the next time I call you, I try to have a stronger opponent for you." Shouts like "make sure you do" and " I can't wait" were heard, before the Reality Marble dissolved and Irisviel and Saber stood again in the shop. The latter already in his Standard-Form. He turned to the wife of his Master.

"Well, I guess, now you know my true name", he addressed her. But hadn't he claimed that the name would not tell her anything when he had been summoned?! No, wait, he had been right. The name 'Nura Rikuo' did not told her anything. It was only his connection to Nurarihyon that was something to keep hidden. Maybe he had been afraid that someone would make the connection through 'Nura'?

"Do you want me to keep it a secret from Kiritsugu?"

"…No, I don't think that is the right thing to do. Now that I have summoned them once, someone is going to find out about my identity and so my Master should know it, too. The same with my skill **Double Identity**."

"Are they connected?"

"I have two different appearances because I am partly human. My Standard-Form is my human form and my Battle-Form my yokai one."

"I see. And because yokai are monsters in the shadows…"

"…I can only activate it at night. I am sorry, but now that someone has found out about it, I won't be able to take you out at daytime, anymore. It's too risky."

"Don't let it bother you, Saber, I really had a lot of fun until now. You have shown me so many things, I haven't experienced before, already more than I hoped for when Kiritsugu summoned you. For that I am really grateful! So, don't beat yourself up over it. I have already a lot more fun at home now that Waver and Rider are around."

"…I guess…"

"Good! For now let's get back to Kiritsugu, before he is going to be sick with worry!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

So, the next Servant's identity has been "revealed". Saber is Nura Rikuo, the Grandson of Nurarihyon from the fittingly named anime "Nurarihyon no Mago". And like I've already said, they may be named demons, ayakashi, but they never had a case of possessing a human. Only posing as a human. And since the nasuverse has yet to show us a specific yokai, I decided to make them Phantasmal Species.

Speaking of Saber, he is another one, who got a Noble Phantasm he didn't had in his life, but there was no way, I could not give him this one. The story puts so much emphasis on the whole following the leader and using the power of your subordinates, it just had to happen. But opposite to Rider's, it is of course not a real Reality Marble, but one similar to Iskander's, born by the combined wishes of his followers. The people within his Reality Marble are the ones, who followed under his banner of Fear against Hagorome Gitsune.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS: ****Saber**

Master: Irisviel von Einzbern

True Name: Nura Rikuo

Sex: Male

Strength: B

Endurance: A

Agility: B

Mana: C

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: A+

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: B

Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Riding: A+

Creatures on the level of _Phantasmal Beast_ and _Divine Beast_ can be used as mounts. However, that does not apply to members of the _Dragon Kind._

Skills

Charisma: C

Is the natural talent to command an army. Increases the ability of allies during group battles.

Suitable to lead an army.

Double Identity: ?

A skill given to those, who have adopted two distant personalities that even people who witnessed the change, might think of them as two people.

It allows Saber to take on a weaker, prana-saving form. Most Noble Phantasm cannot be used in this form and it has to be completely devoid of sunlight, for Saber to switch back.

Noble Phantasm

**Meikyō Shisui: Ripples on the Surface**

Rank: C; Anti-Army; Range: 0-20; Targets: 200 people

A technique that shifts oneself into the blind spots of ones opponents.

**Kyōka Suigetsu: The Moon Reflected on the Surface of a Puddle**

Rank: B; Anti-Army; Range: 0-20; Targets: 200 people

**Nenekirimaru: The Ancestral Shrine Round Cut Off**

Rank: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Phantasmal/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-2; Targets: 1 person

A japanese katana forged by an Onmyouji. After cutting, the sword places a curse on its victim, forcing it to rapidly losing health and refusing the wound to close.

**Hyakki Yakō: My Night Parade of One Hundred Demons**

Rank: A+; Anti-Army; Range: 1-99; Targets: 1000 people

A Reality Marble that summons all the Phantasmal Species who have served under Saber. It is not a true Reality Marble, but rather a mystery, created by the combined power of Saber's followers.


	19. Chapter 18: Pugnacity

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: I've fixed the effect of "Bravery" in Chapter 14. I wrote that Bravery could negate mental influences through thaumaturgy, but that is not correct. It only gives you the ability to protect your mind from disadvantageous influences like confusion, pressure and fascination.

**Blazedragon94**: to chapter 2: Nice, but futile. They are all already reviewed. To chapter 8: As he said one chapter later, he isn't. To chapter 16: Funny you would say that, as Izayoi had been my first choice for the Servant Brawler. But then I read the light novel and noticed, there is no way I can write that particular hedonist. Secondly, it would also tip the power-scaling quite a bit. To chapter 17: I do not know enough about Kamen Rider to answer that question. But I know that first his ability only reflects what it recognized as bad for him.

Chapter 18: Pugnacity

"Where are we going?" Brawler curiously asked. Next to her were both her Master and his Master, the latter walking between them. Saver sighed.

"I already told you!", he claimed. "Didn't you listen to me the first time?"

"Yes."

"And again with that straight face! Please tell her, where we are going, Shirou."

"My name is Akage!"

"Whatever. Are you going to tell me, you didn't listen either?"

"Lancer, wasn't it?", Akage answered sulking.

"That's right: Lancer. I have yet to see you fight so I thought that would be a good opportunity for us… yes?" She had raised her arm while they were walking.

"Why Lancer?", she asked.

"That's because after his initial battle, Lancer kept the whole time inside his home, not coming out and fight. So, this is also a great opportunity to find out a little bit more about our opponent. Maybe we even get to see Berserker as I still haven't seen one bit of him after he lost his **Mad Enhancement**."

"Do you mean, you and Brawler are capable of fighting both Lancer and Berserker?", Akage asked skeptically. "From what you have told me, Berserker is always insanely strong! And Teacher also said that the most dangerous opponent is the one you don't know anything about!"

"Oho, so you remembered something after all. Your teacher is going to be proud! And to answer your question: If I had been any other class, I would agree. However, since I am Saver, I have a little leeway."

"**Counter Hero**", Brawler said and Saver nodded.

"Exactly! So let's go and meet our opponents for the day! By the way, did you notice it, too?"

"When they are upwind I have no choice but to notice."

"No choice? Does that has to do with your Noble Phantasm?"

"Yes." Akage looked from one to the other.

"What are you two talking about?", he demanded to know. Instead of answering Saver took out a Black Key and thrust it into the ground. Like a shark fin, it soared through the earth towards a standing car. It cut through the car's gasoline tank, resulting in an explosion. But even before it hit the car there had been some movement behind it. A middle-aged man jumped out from behind, just in time to avoid getting blown up, too. The person in question was big and burly, had red hair and eyes and was wearing a dark red armor.

"Nice one", the person commented, "you nearly got me there! I congratulate you for finding out my hiding spot!" Saver snorted.

"It wasn't that difficult", he claimed. "Right now it is still daytime. For all the people missing, they had to be guided away to somewhere else. And that could only be with the help of some magecraft to clear the stage. Right, Sakoshimo?" For a moment the man was taken aback.

"How did you know?!", he demanded to know and Saver laughed.

"I know everything! Muahahahaha!" Akage tried to remember where he heard that name.

"Wasn't he the one who wanted to summon Avenger?", he asked.

"Yes, that's him. Although I doubted he cared about what class he summoned, as long as he had summoned a Servant, right?"

"Well, you clearly are good informed. You know, I actually had wanted to go to Lancer and Berserker to ask one of them to become my Servant, but this is an even better opportunity! So, how about it? Will you become my Servant? I bet I can do a lot better than your current Master!" Saver considered the proposal.

"What do you have to offer?", he asked. Akage looked at him horrified.

"Are you really considering leaving me alone?!" But Saver didn't answer and still looked expectant at the fake Sakoshimo. He laughed.

"I am not like any other magus, I am strong enough to take down a weak Servant with prana to spare for my own! And I have three brothers, who are nearly as strong as I am!"

"Interesting, but no, I'll stay with Akage. What about you Brawler? You want to go with him?"

"I just want to make friends and I've already found one." Saver raised an eyebrow.

"You know, I am not a person you should be friends with", he reminded her, but she shook her head.

"I was talking about Shirou."

"My name is Akage!"

"Well, then everything's fine." Ignoring his Master Saver turned towards Sakoshimo. "Well, sorry for you, but it looks like we both have different plans." But instead of looking angry or sad, he smiled.

"I hoped you would say that!", he declared and suddenly blood burst out from his left arm, forming itself into a giant battle-axe. "I like the direct approach a lot more!"

"Brawler, change of plans", Saver told his Servant. "You are going to fight him!" Brawler nodded and charged at her opponent, who swung his axe around, before doing the same. Brawler jumped up and avoided the axe, which crashed into the ground and with a well-aimed kick to the chin, she sent him flying backwards. The fake Sakoshimo quickly regained his bearings and created another axe out of his blood. Just in time to use it to block Brawler's punch, aimed for his head. Then he pushed her back and brandished his axe, but she easily jumped back to avoid the sharp edge and afterwards got close again to deliver the next blow. Sakoshimo discarded his axe and infused his hands and arms with prana.

Reinforcing was one of the most easiest branches of thaumaturgy to understand, but one of the most difficult to apply. It was basically pouring prana into an object to enhance its properties. The problem was that an object could only took so much prana before it would break down. What he had to do was to find the limit. And that was, why reinforcing ones body was so dangerous. If he poured too much prana into his body, he could die. But he had long ago found out his limit.

With his reinforced arm he blocked the fist of the Servant. A small trace of surprised made its way onto her face. Sakoshimo attacked now with his left hand, but she ducked, just to deliver another uppercut that sent him flying back again. Brawler rushed after him, but before she reached him, suddenly a black boar appeared from under him, ramming into her and knocking her away. Quickly she stood up again, looking towards her new adversary. The boar charged a second time, but as soon as it got into reach, she spun around, hitting it dead centre. At once it exploded in a fountain of blood. The fake Sakoshimo held out his arm and at his palm the skin erupted and chunks of blood stained the earth. Then every spot grew and transformed into another boar that charged at the Servant. But Brawler spun around and reduced every single one of them to a smear with a well-aimed punch or kick, before again rushing after her opponent.

Displeasure clearly showed on his face. He moved his hand, as if he was throwing something into the air and streams of blood flew out from his wound, before they turned into axes that hailed down at the Servant. Quickly she approached the fake Sakoshimo in a zigzagging path, the axes crashing into the ground behind her. Finally she reached him and delivered another punch that sent him flying again.

"Well, looks like you are just all talk", Saver commented, but to his surprise the fake Sakoshimo smiled.

"You sure about that?" Suddenly Brawler turned around and literally jumped at him, her eyes glowing red. Saver was caught off guard and her fist drilled itself into his check. He was sent flying back and the illusion created by **_El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (These Are no Windmills)_** was broken, revealing a red-hooded figure with black leather leg armor and gloves. Akage couldn't see the face, as it was hidden within the shadow of the hood. Saver hit the ground and quickly jumped up to escape Brawler's next punch and took out a book, before shouting:

"**_De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis (For Nobody Consults with Demons Voluntarily)_**!" At once the red light in her eyes faded and she stood there, perplexed at the sudden gap in memory. The fake Sakoshimo looked disappointed.

"Man, that's totally unfair!"

"Well", Saver surmised, "I admit your speed and strength are a bit higher than human and you have an interesting ability, but if that's everything that you got, you are going to be pawned. Seriously I can't imagine how someone like you would think, he could defeat a Servant, even less two. If you could make your blood like acid, now that would be a different story, but so, no sorry, you don't stand a chance."

"But I don't need to defeat you!"

"No, you don't. But how will you get past two Servants on your own?" He took out a Black Key and pinned down a boar that had tried to sneak up on Akage from behind. "Now that it got that boring, I'll just kill you now and then go to Lancer!"

"How dare you?!" The fake Sakoshimo raged. "I'll show you, how strong I really am! I'll kill you and the girl and then I am going to suck your little Master dry until the last drop!" Saver thought he didn't heard right.

"…suck him dry?" It couldn't be… was his opponent actually a…

"**_Gungner (Lightning Bolt)_**!" Saver jumped towards the side as a beam of lightning flashed through the place he had been just a moment before. It didn't just stopped there though, but traveled all the way over to the fake Sakoshimo. The person in question didn't react in time and had its complete upper body blown away so fast that the lower body still stood for a moment.

But the big wound didn't showed any kind of organs, neither flesh or bones, just some kind of red liquid that actually looked just like blood. The outer skin lost its color of flesh and took on the same color. After that the body melted away until it was only a red puddle on the ground.

Saver turned around and looked at the one who fired that stream of lightning: Lancer. He had his spear grabbed firmly in his hand, the bulky peak towards him. Next to him stood his Berserker and their Masters.

"Oi! Watch where you are pointing that thing! That's dangerous!", Saver said amused. But if he wanted to rile Lancer up, he failed, as the Knight of the Lance just as amused replied:

"Damn, I missed."

"Na, you hit the dead centre. Any reason, you decided to drop in and destroy that guy? I mean, despite him being a dead apostle… yes?"

"What is a dead apostle?" Brawler had hold up her hand again.

"For short: a vampire", Lancer answered in Saver's stead. "And I attacked him, because he was a dead apostle and had brothers, even three of them!"

"So, the Holy Grail even covers 'Blood Resonance'. And it means that vampires of the same bloodline are stronger while fighting close together." The second sentence he added, after seeing Brawler's hand up in the air again. But it seemed, she still had a question. He looked towards her expectant, but she just stared at him blankly. Saver sighed.

"Yes?"

"How much?"

"Well, let's say, if a Servant has a power of 10 and that guy and his brothers have each a power of… for demonstration proposes, I'll be generous: 3. Now, when you and I are fighting, our combined powers is the sum of our individual ones. 10 plus 10 and you have 20. Now, if you have dead apostles with Blood Resonance, you don't add them, you multiply. So, 3 and 3 and 3 and 3 and suddenly you have 81. So, even if they alone were no match for even the weakest Servant, all four together could probably defeat one. That's why Lancer killed this one as fast as possible, so they can't add the fourth factor to the equation."

"Now I really wish, I've paid better attention in math", Akage complained and Saver laughed.

"I can give you some books, if you want", he offered.

"What?! No, no, I am good!" Saver laughed again and then turned towards Lancer.

"So, what do you want to do now?"

"**_Gungner (Lightning Bolt)_**!"

"**_Als ich ein kleiner Junge war (Not Everything Seen by Children Should be Told to Children)_**!" The peak of the spear separated and a stream of lightning burst out. But it was easily absorbed by Saver's book.

"You know, if you want to fight, shouldn't we do that inside?" Lancer raised an eyebrow.

"You would really prefer to fight in the territory of your enemy?"

"Well, you knows how long that muggle-repulsion charm from the fake Sakoshimo is going to work! Look, there are already people coming!" Lancer turned around and quickly dispelled his spear, as indeed the first person started to walk into the once empty street.

"Let's go!", he told the rest of the team. They nodded and followed him into the house. But when Saver tried to do the same, he met the pointy ends of a trident.

"I didn't mean you", Lancer firmly stated. Berserker was surprised.

"Huh? I thought we are going to fight?!"

"I am not _inviting_ someone with a library full of magical books into my stronghold. Especially if he suggested it." Saver pressed his hands against his chest in mock-hurt.

"You wound me", he theatrically overacted, "Do you really think, I would do something so underhanded?!" Right on cue all around him the people started to nod. Akage however, was confused.

"I thought you had always an advantage in a fight while in your own home?!"

"It's not about _fighting_ in my stronghold, it's about _inviting_ him in my stronghold!" Akage was still lost, but Brawler had figured out.

"Stories", she said and Lancer nodded.

"Someone with the power over books has the power over stories. And there are a lot of stories about creatures that are not allowed to go into a house until someone invites them. It's not too farfetched to think he has a book that can only be activated after being invited."

"Well, in that case…" Suddenly in front of Lancer appeared a line made up of three runes. The surprised Lancer couldn't do anything as he was pushed away from the door and into the entrance hall. Quickly Saver jumped inside after him, his hands at his feet. At once the white wings erupted and he soared through the room towards Lancer, but was intercepted by Berserker. Sparks flew, when his giant sword met Saver's Black Key. Saver was pushed away and landed with his feet against the wall. Now Brawler followed him through the door and made her way towards Berserker. While doing that she climbed the air like a staircase. But halfway she had to do a backflip, as suddenly a harpy appeared before her, throwing dart-like feathers at her. All the while Lancer had regained his bearings and was rushing against her, brandishing his spear, when he suddenly heard someone murmuring something _really_ fast:

"_Twasbrilligandtheslithytovesdidgyreandgimbleinthewabeallmimsyweretheborogoves_

_andthemomerathsoutgrabebewarethejabberwockmysonthejawsthatbitetheclawsthatcatch_

_bewarethejubjubbirdandshunthefrumiousbandersnatchhetookhisvorpalswordinhandlong_

_timethemanxomefoehesoughtsorestedhebythetumtumtreeandstoodawhileinthoughtand_

_asinuffishthoughthestoodthejabberwockwitheyesofflamecamewhifflingthroughthetulgeywood_

_andburbledasitcameonetwoonetwoandthroughandthroughthevorpalbladewentsnickersnackhe_

_left__itdeadandwithitsheadhewentgalumphingbackandhastthouslainthejabberwockcome__tomy_

_arms__mybeamishboyofrabjousdaycalloohcallayhechortledinhisjoytwasbrilligandtheslithytoves_

_did__gyreandgimbleinthewabeallmimsyweretheborogovesandthemomerathsoutgrabe._**_Jabberwocky (The Monster in the Mirror)_**!"

Saver was holding a sheet of paper in his hand and looking at it through the mirror, Lancer had placed in the entrance hall, reciting the content faster than the owner of the castle had ever heard someone talking. Suddenly Saver's reflection changed. It grew three times the size, the limbs became bulky and took an unhealthy gray color. The neck elongated and it gained razor-sharp teeth. It lost all hair and clothes and instead received a long tail and two big leathery wings. Then the reflection stretched it hand out and _through_ the mirror, gripping the frame and pulled itself out, just like in a horror movie.

Berserker moved to attack the creature, but had to bring up his blade to block as Saver soared towards him, a long black katana in his right hand. Berserker swung his sword down, nearly sending Saver flying back, but the hooded Servant managed to retain his position and quickly used his left hand to write the same line of runes, he had written not long ago against Lancer. Berserker was sent flying back and crashed through a door, leading into another room. Saver quickly flew after him, leaving Brawler and his reflection to stay with Lancer.

"Do you really think they can deal with Lancer alone?", Berserker asked, questioning his intention. "Or you with me for the matter?"

"Oh, you sure are confident."

"Not really, just checking. I do enjoy a good fight once in a while. I have never fought against someone utilizing books before."

"Well, it's not like I am going to throw a book at your face. It's highly ineffective and only funny if it hits!" To underline his statement he took out a book and literally threw it at his opponent's head. Unsurprisingly Berserker caught it with one hand, right before it hit him.

"I can understand your point", he agreed. "So, you are more like a magician that can't do anything without his books?"

"Something like that. But ya sure are a lot more gullible than Lancer, aren't ya?" Suddenly the book in his hand exploded in a ball of flame. As fast as lightning, Saver rushed at his opponent, aiming at his heart, but his adversary had already recovered and managed to protect his vital point in time. The explosion left him a little bit charred on the site of his face and hair, but otherwise he was fine.

"I guess you weren't kidding, when you said you are not good. Are you sure, you are a Saver?", Berserker accused, pushed him back and countered with a strike on his own.

"Kill one to save ten, kill ten to save hundred", Saver answered, flew above his sword strike and attacked the not-mad Servant now directly from above him, forcing him to bent backwards and fight, as if he was standing on a wall, completely ignoring the gravity, while Saver continued to talk:

"…and eradicating a city to save the world. Not a bad deal, isn't it?" Saver continued to circle around him, attacking from all kind of different angles, making perfect use of the three dimensions.

"Don't be ridiculous! How can you call that saving?!" Berserker had never fought against an opponent like that. Even though nearly all his previous enemies had the ability to walk on air and ignore gravity, they all fought with their feet pointing towards the ground. But this guy didn't even cared about terms like above and below, forcing Berserker to fight in positions, he never once had in his entire life.

"Muhahahahaha!", Saver laughed at his response. "I wasn't the one who made up the rules about Servant classes. And yes, technically it is saving people. But ya sure ya aren't a hypocrite? Or do you really have never killed someone in your entire life?"

"No", Berserker firmly stated, while parrying another blow from the irregular Servant. "Even if I defeat a hollow, I only sent his soul back to the circle of transmigration." Saver sweat-dropped.

"I don't know what hollows are, but that sounds like a sugar-coated killing to me!"

"Hollows are… a kind of wraith. Souls of people who linger in this world even after their dead. Hollows however do more than that. They are driven by an insatiable hunger that makes them consume people and spirits around them, even the ones they previously loved."

"I see." Saver slashed from below him – which geographically was actually above him – and Berserker let himself fall down a bit. "That makes it easy for ya. If the guys you fight all died already, you certainly have no worry about killing someone. I imagine, EMIYA is envying you quite a bit."

"Emiya? You mean Saber's Master?"

"Oh, yeah, that guy, too. **_Dr. Fausts vierfacher Höllenzwang (To Control the Ghosts of the Four Elements)_**! _Ventus_!" The eagle made out of air appeared and attacked Berserker at close range. As fast as light Berserker retreated to the end of the room. He grabbed his sword firmly in his hands, holding it up. White streams of energy wrapped around the blade. Then he slashed it down, while screaming:

"**_Getsuga Tenshou (The Light that Pierces the Heaven)_**!" The energy was released in a white wave of light that completely obliterated the air eagle and still continued to make its way towards Saver…

"**_Casa Di Logistilla (Destruction Declaration)_**!" …only to be blocked and dispersed by one of Saver's book. But while Saver had chanted the books name, Berserker had closed the distance and right after the energy wave was destroyed, followed with an upwards sword strike. Saver managed to block in time, but was smacked away by the power behind the sword strike away and crashed against the wall. Saver gasped as the air was blown out of his lungs, as Berserker quickly followed the irregular Servant. But just before he impaled his opponent, spikes grew out of the wall, around Saver's hands and he had to jump back, before he got impaled instead.

"**_Über das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne und einiger anderer Gestirne des Himmels (The Doppler Effect)_**!" But even though Saver had activated another Noble Phantasm, Berserker couldn't see any effects take place. However, after the display earlier, he doubted that this book had been a miscalculation or even a dud.

"You know, I am really glad you're not a Saber", he said, while freeing himself from the wall. "Someone like you with **Magic Resistance** would be really unfair!" He took out three Black Keys and threw them at Berserker. Quickly he moved to the side, but…

"Ugh", Berserker winced as one Black Key penetrated his right arm. How? He was sure he had moved aside! But he had no time to ponder about that as Saver sent a real barrage of Black Keys on him. Even though he could see every single one of them and moved to either intercept them or get out-of-the-way, some of them still hit him. Now Black Keys weren't known for being very effective against Servants even though they excelled at damaging spiritual phenomena, opposite to the usual weapons, which attacked physically. Servants were just in a different league than what the Church usually hunted, like demons and dead apostle. However, now the thrown weapons changed. They were still Black Keys, but these exploded in fire and lightning once they hit.

Berserker realized, he was driven into a corner. Whatever the book had done, it prevented a completely escape from all attacks. Especially the swords he tried to block had become sure hits. Did he somehow created illusions, like Aizen apparently could? If that was the case, there was no way he would be able to win this way. He had to change his strategy.

He retreated back against the wall, opposite to Saver and faced him with his sword raised. Again he build energy up, but this time it wasn't just around his blade, but coated his whole body like a mantle. Saver and Berserker had completely different fighting styles. Saver sneaked around and used tricks to get an advantage above his opponent, while Berserker was more a straight-up fighter. Now, it's not like Berserker was completely unable to find and exploit an opponent's weak point, however, his greatest strength had always been his high spiritual power, here called prana. Now he took all the prana he built up and transferred it into his sword **_Zangetsu (The Sword that Splits the Moon)_**. Then he swung his sword down shouting again:

"**_Getsuga Tenshou (The Light that Pierces the Heaven)_**!" The energy wave this time was five times the size of the previous one, obliterating any Black Keys in his path until it finally reached the aghast Saver, engulfing him in an explosion of bright white light.

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

The fake Sakoshimo makes another appearance. And it looks like he is a dead apostle. For those who read every single word of my story without skipping seemingly unimportant parts, will notice that I foreshadowed that quite a bit with the summoning ritual he gave Volquart. But since he is no Ancestor, he died rather easily in a fight against a Servant, even before we found out his real name.

The Jabberwocky is not the monster that Nursery Rhyme liked to summon, so it can be hurt without the Vorpal Blade.

And before you point your fingers at me, Berserker has no way of knowing, just who is actually fit for the Saver class.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS: ****Brawler**

Master: Saver (Servant)

True Name: Kasukabe You

Sex: female

Strength: E

Endurance: D

Agility: D

Mana: B

Luck: C

Noble Phantasm: A+

Class Abilities

Battle Continuation: E

Increases the tolerance to pain and loss of blood by a small margin

Bravery: A+

is the ability to negate mental interference such as pressure, confusion and fascination

Bonus effect of increasing melee damage

Skills

Independent Action: C

Capable of remaining in this world for one day without an established contract.

Instinct: B

is the power to "feel" the most favorable developments for oneself during battle.

Nature of a Rebellious Spirit: B

is the temperament to never remain at one location and never embrace a lord. A wandering star that does not have the capacity to be king nor is capable of finding his own king.

Negates the effects of "Charisma" up to Rank B

Part of the Pack: D

Increases ones parameters in Tag Battles for each ally.

Brawler gains a bonus each for up to three allies.

Protection from Beast: C

Reduces the damage taken by animals and Phantasmal Beast except dragons by 35 %

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1_**

Rank: A+; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

* * *

**CLASS: ****Berserker**

Master: Matou Kariya

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: A+

Endurance: A+

Agility: A+

Mana: A

Luck: A

Noble Phantasm:

Class Abilities

Mad Enhancement: X

Lost because of an opponent's Noble Phantasm.

Skills

Battle Continuation: A

Makes possible to fight even with deadly injuries and can remain alive so long as one does not receive a decisive fatal wound.

Hidden Visibility: D

It is impossible for anybody without Magic Circuits or psychic ability to see this Servant.

Air Dance: A

A skill that allows for running across the air as if it was solid ground.

Berserker is able to stand in mid-air, regardless of the direction he is facing.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1_**

Rang: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-2; Targets: 1 person

**Getsuga Tenshō: The Light that Pierces the Heaven**

Rang: B~A++; Anti-Gate/Anti-Fortress/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-99; Targets: 1000 people

Gathers a lot of prana into a the blade and releases it in one single wave. The strength of the attack depends on the amount of prana previously gathered


	20. Chapter 19: Are we still human?

**Fate On(e) Savior**

I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews!

**Coronadomontes**: Sorry, but even before the fight Saver admitted, only to fight for information gathering so he won't go full-out and so won't Berserker.

**Blazedragon94**: I think after this chapter you will know his identity or at last the franchise.

Chapter 19: Are we still human?

As Saver made away with Berserker, Brawler stayed back with Lancer and the "Jabberwocky", her Master summoned. The aforementioned creature first made short work of the summoned harpy, before going after its summoner. Lancer snapped with his fingers and suddenly the floor under them moved away, revealing a big hole. Both Brawler and the monster stayed up in the air, while Lancer fell down into the abyss. Brawler hesitated for a moment and so the Jabberwocky was the first to follow the Knight of the Lance.

When Brawler went down herself, the first thing she noticed, was the red horizon, like the sky at dawn. The ceiling was painted like the sky and below her was a great cornfield, but all the cornstalks were dried up and dead. In the distance she could see a dead tree. She heard noise and when she looked at the source, she could see Lancer fighting against the creature. She ran in the air towards them, when she suddenly heard a buzzing noise closing in on her. Abruptly she let herself fall down and a swarm of locusts soared over her head. Brawler looked after them, when they turned around and shot at her again. She held out her hand and a sharp gust of wind cut the locusts to shreds. But from the surrounding cornstalks rose even more locusts and attacked her. While she summoned more gusts of wind, she noticed that the insects were flying in a pattern found in human air squadrons. Not something animals would actually use.

She jumped up again towards the ceiling in steps and then looked around. With eyes as good as a bird's she looked around, searching for the one directing the locusts. There! Half-hidden in the cornfield stood a man. No, it was no man. It may had a human head and elegant clothes and was standing up-right, but that was were the similarities stopped. He had two insect-like legs and four insect-like arms, only the upper two clothed by the sleeves of his pale green mantle with red lining. Moreover he had a scorpion-like tail, in the same dark-green like his limbs, opposite to the pale green of his mantle, hair and face. In his hand he was holding a baton, which he used to direct the locusts like an orchestra.

Brawler made her way towards him and he noticed that she had found him. As if the orchestral piece that he directed entered a faster act, his hand movements became faster and at his command, the insects, flew faster and more aggressive at the girl. But she blew them all away with conjured gusts of wind, making it look easy. She landed in front of the bug man and delivered a punch straight to the face. He was sent back flying, but surprisingly was able to stand up without much problems afterwards, again making a movement with his baton, this time, from pointing towards her to pointing against his chest. A swarm of locusts hit her from behind, ripping her clothes and skin at her back while pushing her forwards, until she fell down and the insects continued their way over her head, only to do another U-turn and fly towards her again. Like the times she did before, this time she could push them away with controlling the air currents around her.

She looked at her opponent. When she was in control over the air, the locusts could not hurt her, yet he was still using them as a means of attack. Could it be, he was a one-trick-pony? In that case, she just had to work around him shrugging of her punch. However, if blunt attacks didn't work, she still had another type of attacks, she could use. She held out her hand and the cutting winds that were still protecting her, where now used to attack, as they extended now towards the half-man-half-bug. Even though he didn't even flinched from the attacks, she could see the wounds that appeared on the body and soon enough he exploded in a cloud of locusts that, together with al the other ones caught flames and burned to ashes. Brawler looked around to see, what Lancer was doing…

"**_Gungner (Lightning Bolt)_**!" …just in time to see to the a beam of lightning go through the heart of the Jabberwocky. But that wasn't enough to destroy it. Roaring it closed in on the Knight of the Lance, when suddenly out of nowhere, a creepy purple head with wing and too many eyes appeared above Saver's summon. But only the maxillary. The mandible with a tail-like appendage appeared below, before they both went together, cutting off the head of the Jabberwocky with one giant guillotine-like teeth and just like it appeared, it vanished. Its victim lost all of its colors and turned into a black shadow, before grumbling apart. But at the same time a small blue orb appeared from its corpse, circled around Lancer, before entering him through his chest. Brawler watched the process with wide eyes, when Lancer turned around and faced her, firmly grabbing the spear.

"So, is it now your turn?", he asked, but Brawler made no motion to attack.

"Did you just absorbed its soul?", she asked. Something like that was not possible. Of course Heroic Spirit's had the power to consume lesser souls, but she wasn't even sure that thing had a soul in the first place, as it was created out of Saver's reflection. Wait! Could it be that he didn't absorbed its soul, but it's power? Lancer sneered.

"As if I would tell you about my abilities!" He rushed against Brawler, prepared to impale and electrocute her.

"**_Genome Arvor (The Phylogenetic Tree of Life)_**!" Lancer stopped **_Gungner_** right in front of her chest. She just stood there, watching him with an intense stare. The words out of her mouth were the name of her Noble Phantasm, but she did not called them as a means of attack. Instead she just had revealed its name to him. The name of her _Noble Phantasm_! And as soon as he heard it, opposite to Saber's or even Saver's Noble Phantasm, the Holy Grail supplied him with knowledge about it. That was, because the genome tree was not the name of an object, but of a concept known in this era. Genome was the genetic material of an organism and the genome tree was the graph that depicted, how every organisms genes stood in relationship to each other, in other words, an evolutionary tree. So, she had the whole evolution as a Noble Phantasm?! What kind of effects does such a Noble Phantasm has?! And why did she told him that?!

"What do you want?", he asked warily. He couldn't make heads or tails out of her, just like he couldn't make heads or tails out of her Master.

"Are you still human?", she asked a counter question that took him off guard. Was he still a human? He had asked that himself more than once already. It wasn't a question, if his action were humane or monstrous, but rather, if he was still a human literally.

"I don't know for sure", he admitted, "are you?" She shook her head.

"I am not sure neither. I hoped that you would have an answer."

"Is that your wish from the Holy Grail?"

"…yes." Lancer sighed and put away his spear.

"When I was born, Julius Belmont defeated and killed the Lord of Darkness, called Dracula, for good, shattering his soul. But evil in the world is necessary and so the soul pieces reincarnated into children born that moment, one of them, being me. But I am not like the others, as I have gained the true power of Dracula, the **_Power of Dominance (For I Am the Lord of Darkness)_**. It allows me to absorb the souls of monsters and spirits I kill and gain their abilities. Even though I defeated the chaos in my soul, I sometimes wonder, am I still a human, or am I just a fusion of the monsters that reside inside of me?"

"…I see. My body was weak and so I had always been bedridden. My farther created **_Genome Arvor (The Phylogenetic Tree of Life)_** and gave it to me, so that I could walk around. It allows me to gain the abilities of the animals and eudemons that I befriend, allowing me to walk… But someone told me that is not all. She told me that it was actually sampling the genes of the animals and eudemons that I met and recreates them as my own, turning me, the bearer, into a chimera as the ultimate life form. I want to know if it's true that I am not a human anymore."

"I am sorry, but I won't be able to answer that question."

"…I know." Both of them kept silent for a while, then Lancer cleared his throat. "Well, if you still want to fight, you are free to, but I have had enough for today, so why don't you pick up your Master and your Master's Master and call it a day, too?" Brawler nodded and walked up towards the hole in the ceiling, Lancer following her shortly. When they reached the floor above, they were greeted with an interesting sight. The ceiling of the room was missing and you could look into the floor above. Berserker stood casual beside Kayneth, Sola-Ui and Kariya, while Akage was standing unsure next to the entrance, accompanied, by a puppet made out of blades. Opposite of him on the wall stuck two dozens of swords, looking like Black Keys. Lancer sweat-dropped.

"What the hell happened here!", he demanded to know.

"Well, you see", began Berserker, "because Saver was circling around all the time, I kind of forgot, which direction I faced and then I had to use my Noble Phantasm and well…"

"You've got an Anti-Fortress-Noble Phantasm?" Berserker answered in the affirmative. "Well, that explains that. Although I wonder where the "Flying Armor" is that I stationed above. Did you incinerated it as well?"

"A red suit of armor with a blue cape and two giant swords?", asked Sola-Ui.

"Yes, that's the one."

"Ah, sorry", apologized Akage, "it just attacked me suddenly and I may have overreacted." Lancer sweat-dropped again.

"Well, I always knew, it would not hold out for long, but against a ten-year old human child? Wow, that is kind of sad." He turned back to Berserker. "Where is Saver? Did you destroyed him with that attack?"

"I sure hope so, but somehow I can't see him dying that easily."

"You are right", Saver, who just entered the room through the hole in the ceiling, admitted.

"Saver!", Akage shouted happily. "Where have you been?!"

_*/flashback/*_

"Damn, don't they ever get less?", he asked annoyed as he sent a hail of Black Key into a bunch of zombies, walking red suits of armor carrying bombs and skeletons equipped with bows and boomerangs. And not to forget the giant golem made out of stone. But except for the latter, everyone fell quite easily against his Black Keys and even the golem needed just a little more pushes. But seriously, where the hell was he now?! He had used **_Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (The Land behind the Mirror)_** to create a double and so escaped the attack, but then he had taken the wrong door and now had no idea, where he was.

Maybe that way… He walked through a door and came eye to eye with some grotesque creature. Well, eye to eye socket, to be precise, as the creature lacked any eyes. It closely resembled a carnivorous dinosaur, like a t-rex, but its flesh was rotting and its ribcage open. Furthermore it was missing any arms. It was really an unsightly appearance. The creature roared aloud and as it roared, the skin above his mouth moved backwards, revealing red covered bones and white teeth. It inhaling deeply while a white light appeared in its maw.

"Shut up!", Saver shouted. "I don't have time for you!" He took out a piece of paper with something like a guard on it just as the creature spew a giant beam of white light. Saver ran up the walls while the creature followed his movements with his head, trying to hit him with its attack. But it could not continue the attack forever and when the light faded away, Saver bend his knees, pushed himself away from the wall and flew directly above the abomination.

"**_Pot of Wisdom (Shattering of the Stories)!_**" Suddenly the paper burst into a stream of more pages, containing writing in a lot of different languages. Rapidly they multiplied, covering the irregular Servant in a big cocoon of shifting paper. The creature looked upwards and shouted. But Saver wasn't finished yet. Within moments a bunch of more sheets were produced and created an smaller sphere that docked on the bigger one. Right as the abomination started to inhale for a second time, eight pillars out of pages attached themselves to the main body and a giant spider made out of paper crashed onto the creature, using one of its surprisingly solid legs to slam the maw shut.

"**See ya**!", Saver shouted from inside with some distorted voice and at once an uncountable number of Black Keys shot out from every single piece of paper, impaling the rotting dinosaur innumerable times from close range. It stood no chance. The abomination was dead on the spot, burst into flames that did not jumped over to the paper and quickly was reduced t ashes.

"**Now that's that**", Saver commented and the paper started to disintegrate. Once Saver was free enough to walk he abandoned it without looking back and moved towards the wall. Randomly choosing doors didn't helped him, so he had to go a little bit more systematically.

He let his hand move over it and at once it was covered in a square, which borders were made out of two lines of runes. He looked through it and could see a giant hole in the ground and beneath that: Agake.

"Great!", he shouted, before summoning three Black Keys in both hands and cut a square into the wall, which he passed through.

_*/flashback end/*_

"I had to take care of something first", Saver answered Akage's question. "Nothing major I can assure you."

"I knew it", Berserker groaned. "So, are you going to attack us again?"

"Na, I think I am good for the day. Shirou, put away your toys, we are going!"

"My name is Akage! And what do you mean toys… oh." His gaze had fallen onto the blades that still stuck in the wall. "Ah, sorry!" At once the swords dispersed.

"**_El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (These Are no Windmills)_**!", he shouted and at once had again the appearance of a Japanese priest. He then faced his "hosts" one last time.

"Well, see ya later!", he said his goodbye and Brawler mimicked him, a bit more politely though.

"So, Shirou", Saver started, while they walked out of the house. "Were that real Black Keys or did you just shaped them to look like my swords?"

"I've told you my name is Akage!"

* * *

A lone figure walked through the outskirts of Fuyuki City. One could not see its face as it was hidden under a white hood, the same white fabric that also the legs were covered with. Without any hesitation it walked towards one lonely house, clearly showing its destination. It knocked once and then opened the door to go inside. The interiors were plain and cheep-looking. The figure took off the hood, revealing a young man with white hair and red eyes in a white-colored hunting suit. The man moved through the corridor into the living room. There, sitting on a table was another middle-aged man. He had pale skin, gray hair and was wearing a gray clergy suit. Hearing someone approaching he turned around.

"You came back?", he asked, surprise clearly showing in his gray eyes.

"Saver and Brawler were by Lancer and Berserker", he explained. "I would not have made any difference. And the other somehow vanished."

"I see. You really don't like dying, do you? In that case, you can do it!" The white-haired man nodded and took out a knife. He cut of one tuft of hair and let it fell to the ground. Then he walked some steps, cut into his arm and let some of his blood fell onto the ground. He moved two steps back before chanting:

"_Wir sind vier_."

Suddenly the blood and hair on the ground began to pulse, shift and multiply. They morphed into piles that grew bigger and bigger until they even took a human shape. Now they suddenly gained different colors and now they resembled the Gaichuu and fake Sakoshimo. Suddenly they both opened their eyes and started to cough heavily.

"I thought I would die!", Gaichuu exclaimed loudly, to which the gray priest responded businesslike:

"You died, again." The fake Sakoshimo calmed down his breathing, before suddenly turning towards the white-haired man, fuming with anger.

"Pest, you bastard!", he shouted. "Where were you! Weren't you supposed to help me!"

"I would not have made any difference", the accused answered, which made the fake Sakoshimo snort.

"Yeah right, don't lie! You are just a little coward! Too afraid of that little pain!"

"War, that's enough", the gray priest reprimanded him. "I never really thought, you would be successful, if the negotiations failed, in the first place. I had more hopes regarding Famine's job. What happened? I have heard he took you somewhere."

"Took me somewhere?", the black ninja repeated upset. "That guy has a Reality Marble! And guess what? He's the grandson of Nurarihyon. The grandson of the fucking Nurarihyon! The Reality Marble is filled with his whole Hyakki Yakō! The fucking Hyakki Yakō! If anyone is saying, I was too weak, I am going to kill him, understood?!"

"Okay, I admit", War said, "that's definitely not your fault. Seriously, the whole Hyakki Yakō?! And I didn't even knew that Nurarihyon existed."

"It sure is a pity", the gray priest said. "now that even Saber proofs unable to be acquired, our chances of gaining the Holy Grail became slim. If we just knew, what Volquart did different, when he summoned Avenger, then we could replicate it, but so? And our only way of acquiring information about the Heaven's Feel from that Edelfelt-woman is gone, too. It looks bad for our wish to be fulfilled. I fear, we have to abandon our plan."

"What?", War shouted out. "But, Death, that's a one in sixty years chance!"

"Exactly. A one in sixty years chance. After sixty years they will be a new one. Let us leave now, before someone picks up on our trail.

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Sorry, but even though they are in enemy territory there is not much fighting going on. Remember, Saver only wanted to get a quick overview about his opponent. He cannot defeat anyone of them as long as Caster's still around, after all or it increases his chances of defeat at her hands.

Now you might remember how I said in earlier chapters, that both dead apostle had been killed. Well, they had. I never mentioned anything about them staying dead. However, I did so much foreshadowing with these brothers that I don't think a lot of people are surprised by that.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS: ****Brawler**

Master: Saver (Servant)

True Name: Kasukabe You

Sex: female

Strength: E

Endurance: D

Agility: D

Mana: B

Luck: C

Noble Phantasm: A+

Class Abilities

Battle Continuation: E

Increases the tolerance to pain and loss of blood by a small margin

Bravery: A+

is the ability to negate mental interference such as pressure, confusion and fascination

Bonus effect of increasing melee damage

Skills

Independent Action: C

Capable of remaining in this world for one day without an established contract.

Instinct: B

is the power to "feel" the most favorable developments for oneself during battle.

Nature of a Rebellious Spirit: B

is the temperament to never remain at one location and never embrace a lord. A wandering star that does not have the capacity to be king nor is capable of finding his own king.

Negates the effects of "Charisma" up to Rank B

Part of the Pack: D

Increases ones parameters in Tag Battles for each ally.

Brawler gains a bonus each for up to three allies.

Protection from Beast: C

Reduces the damage taken by animals and Phantasmal Beast except dragons by 35 %

Noble Phantasm

**Genome Arvor (The Phylogenetic Tree of Life)**

Rank: A+; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

Allows Brawler to communicate with all animals and eudemons on the level of "Animal Dialogue" Rank A and samples the DNA of the ones she has befriended to give her their abilities.

* * *

**CLASS:****Lancer**

Master: Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: C

Endurance: B

Agility: A

Mana: A

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: C

Cancel spells with a chant below two verses. Cannot defend against Magecraft on the level of _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_.

Battle Continuation: A

Makes possible to fight even with deadly injuries and can remain alive so long as one does not receive a decisive fatal wound.

Skills

Territory Creation: A+

Allows the creation of a _Castle_, superior to a _Temple_

Collector: B

The talent to collect high quality goods.

Lancer can collect weapons, magical potions and amulets below B-Rank.

Eye of the Mind (True): A

is a heightened capacity for observation, refined through experience.

Not the tiniest detail gets past him. As long as there is a way for him to win, he will find it.

Noble Phantasm

**Gungner: Lightning Bolt**

Rank: D; Anti-Unit; Range: 4-50; Targets: 20 people

An electrical lance that shots out a great bolt of lightning, that goes through walls and unliving objects without damaging them.

**Power of Dominance: For I Am the Lord of Darkness**

Rank: A; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self/Anti-Phantasmal; Range: 0; Number of Targets: 1

It allows the user to absorb the souls of monsters and spirits he kills and gain their abilities.


	21. Chapter 20: Command Seals

**Fate On(e) Savior**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews.

Blazedragon94: Regarding Lancer, yes it was supposed to be him. I was going for the 'some years passed since we last heard from him and so his personality took some changes'-excuse. And regarding the siblings, you are right, they have only their names and magecraft modeled after them so they are not as strong as the real deal and not even on ancestor level. So, one on one against a Servant is a no-go. But thanks to their Blood Resonance four against one could actually work.

Chapter 20: Command Seals

"The fake Sakoshimo has been killed", Assassin told his Master, gaining his attention at once.

"Really? Who did it?"

"Lancer. The fake Sakoshimo approached Saver and Brawler while they were in front of the Archibald's current residence. He had asked them to become his Servant, but both refused, resulting in him taking up arms. Of course he stood no chance, so Saver let his Servant do everything alone. That is, until the fake Sakoshimo used a spell, which resulted in Brawler becoming mad, but it was easily broken by Saver's Noble Phantasm **_De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis (For Nobody Consults with Demons Voluntarily)_**. As it came to light that he was a dead apostle, Lancer quickly used his Noble Phantasm **_Gungner (Lightning Bolt)_** to kill him, as he had previously mentioned that he has three siblings."

"I see. Although it is great that the Apostle is dead, the news about three more with Blood Resonance are troubling. We have to tell Risei about this!"

"Yes, Master."

* * *

A teenage boy with orange hair and ordinary clothes stood in an ordinary street. Opposite to him on the ground set a girl in black Japanese clothing. In her hand she held a long katana. It was supported by the boy in question, who pointed it at himself. All the while a giant black monster with a white face ran towards the pair. But before it could reach the two the boy dragged the sword into his chest, impaling himself. But instead of a wound a great flash of light appeared, blending the creature. And then the arm of the creature was cut off in one swift move. And when the light died down… the teenage boy stood there, a big katana over his shoulder. Now Kariya now recognized the person: It was Berserker.

"Now you'll pay for hurting my family!", he shouted and cut down the beast.

'We really have a lot in common, don't we, Berserker?!'

* * *

The next day:

"You've gotten better", Irisviel admitted, while staring at the TV and pressing the buttons of her controller. Her current opponent, Waver Velvet, was sweating and downright smashing the buttons of his controller to protect his avatar, a giant muscle man, from the onslaught of the white-haired woman. Unsuccessfully, as only twenty seconds later he suffered another Game Over.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah", Waver cried out theatrically and threw himself backwards onto the mat. "I've lost again." Irisviel chuckled happily.

"No one can defeat me!", she declared proudly, puffing out her chest with pride. Saber chuckled at her antics and at the expense of Waver. Meanwhile the target of his glee looked over to his own Servant, only to find her staring at him. No, that was not it. She was staring at the controller in his hand. Waver sweat-dropped.

"Do you want to play, too?", he asked her. She nodded hesitantly. Waver stood up and gave her controller.

"Oh, great!", Irisviel shouted and Waver started to worry.

"Maybe I should be the one to first fight her", he suggested. "You know, to ease her in…" But Irisviel waved away all his concerns.

"I'll promise I'll go easy on her", she proclaimed and not wanting to disagree with her, he let it drop. Instead he turned back towards Rider and explained the game mechanics to her.

"Now, these buttons are used to move, this here is used to jump, this one to block and these for various different attacks. You'll have to familiarize yourself with them a bit on your own." Once the "FIGHT!" lettering vanished, Rider frantically smashed the buttons, resulting in her avatar, which was the same as Waver's one, doing a lot of uncoordinated moves. Irisviel made her avatar stay out-of-the-way the whole time. Only after some time the Servant calmed down a bit and was finally directing her avatar in a reasonable manner. First a direct thrust to the woman's head, which Irisviel blocked with the naginata. Then she jumped and kicked, again blocked. She tried it with a low kick, but Irisviel jumped over it and retaliated with a direct strike to the chest. One the top of the screen Rider's health point took some serious damage. But Rider didn't seemed to bother, as she continued to attack Irisviel, without blocking or disengaging once. It wasn't surprising when the fight soon ended with a GAME OVER on Rider's side.

"Such a pity", Irisviel exclaimed, "maybe next time you have more…" Suddenly a loud crash echoed through the house. Rider, who had previously sat on the ground, was now standing next two the TV in her mechanical wheels, one leg clearly thrust through the screen of the TV.

"Rideeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!", Waver shouted horrified, as Rider took her foot out of the device, put her wheels into actions and drove out of the room.

"I am so sorry!", Waver apologized to the Einzbern homunculus, before rushing after his Servant.

"Wow, talking about a sore loser", he could hear Saber saying, while he ran out of the door. Rider was faster than him and he lost sight of her after the next corner, but could nevertheless

follow her by following the sound of her wheels. At one point the sounds stopped, indicating that she stopped herself. When he caught up with her she was standing outside looking up towards the sky.

"Rider", Waver gasped, "what was that right now?" But his Servant didn't answer him and instead continued to look up into the sky. Waver didn't knew, what to say.

"You know that destroying someone else's belongings is not okay?", he tried, but she was still not moving or showing any signs of listening. "Ugh, damn it!" He lost his composure, grabbed her by her shoulders and turned she around to face him. He was greeted by the cold, soul-piercing gaze that he always had feared. But today he would not back down, he mustn't!

"D-don't look at me like that!", he stuttered. "You are the one that made a mistake! S-so, you are the one that has to apologize!" She continued to stare at him. Damn, talking sense into someone with **Mental Pollution** was hard. He didn't knew, if she would take to heart or even listening to anything he said or if he might make it even worse. How could he make her listen to him, now that she didn't thought of him as her human counterpart, when she didn't listen to him earlier, either. Maybe he should redirect her attention to something else first…

"Please, tell me, what this is", he asked of her, showing her the stitches on his chest. Her gaze turned into one of recognition.

'**_Chariot (Carrier of the Arcana)_**', she elaborated through his mind. '…But I had never that ability before summoned.'

"That's not too surprising. Noble Phantasm are actually crystallized legends. It is to be expected that you have some more. However, do you know, _what_ it is? For me, it is the prove that I care for you. Even though I am not your human counterpart, I care for you and so I worry, every time you are doing something… bad. So, please let me help you. Be it with your fighting or how to behave in the modern world correctly, all right?" For a long time she didn't reacted and Waver worried, she would disregard him again, but then she nodded. It was only once and nearly too small to be noticed, but she did. Waver felt a wave of relieve washing over him and he reached out his hand towards her.

"Come!", he told her. "Let's go back to Miss Einzbern and apologize!" Suddenly the night sky was filled with multiple colored pieces of light. Waver recognized them at once. It seemed that they would have to stop with playing for now either way.

* * *

Saver looked up into the sky. Except for clouds and stars, this time he could see something else: Flares. And those meant…

"…a meeting? Seriously? That's the third one!", Saver exclaimed loud.

"What is it?", Brawler asked.

"The supervisor called up a meeting for all the Master of the Holy Grail War. That was, where I was last time."

"You mean, where you cheated?"

"It's one of my Noble Phantasm! That does not count as cheating!"

"Sure." Brawler did not sounded convinced.

"You know what? Forget it. Let's just sent some familiars to the meeting." Akage was curious.

"You aren't going to use Cooro and Yuki?"

"Of course I will ask them. I'll just sent my own familiar additionally."

"Why don't you just sent your familiar alone?"

"Because animals focus on something completely different. It is only an experiment, but maybe they see something that I missed. **_Aesopica (And The Moral of It Is)_**."

* * *

"Thank you all for coming!", the supervisor told the assembled crew of animals.

"I have urgent news for you. Yesterday a dead apostle, only known as 'Fake Sakoshimo', had been killed. Roughly a weak earlier he was discovered to have killed the original Sakoshimo Hiroko and tried to intervene in the Holy Grail War. He is the one who is behind the additionally summoning of Avenger. But even though he is dead, it had been revealed that he has three more brothers, who also are part in his conspiracy. So, be vigilant. Now, I would like to thank the one, who defeated this threat to the Heaven's Feel."

Risei withdraw his sleeve and showed them the additionally Command Seals.

"As thank for the services regarding the Heaven's Feel, I will entrust the Masters of both the Archibald- and Akage-alliances with one Command Seal each, should they come to the church. I will also seize the opportunity to remind you that every service regarding the safety of the Heaven's Feel, will be repaid in the same way. Thank you."

For a moment Saver's thought process was frozen.

'This guy… he's a genius!"

* * *

"I don't understand, how does that make him a genius?", Akage wanted to know. With the help of Cooro and Yuki, which now sat on one shoulder of Brawler each and were eating cheese, Saver had explained, what happened at the meeting.

"Now, see here", Saver tried to explain, "**_Schindler's Liste (One Who Saves One Person Saves the World)_** forbids him from putting a bounty on my head. What he did was putting a bounty on my head, without putting a bounty on my head!"

"I didn't understand this", Cooro admitted and Yuki sighed.

"He did not put a bounty on his head literally", he explained, "but if everybody knows that they will get a reward, when they defeat him, it doesn't matter if he says it aloud." Cooro's face brightened up.

"Oh, I see", he exclaimed. "It's like us! We both agreed to go to the meeting, without him offering us anything, because we knew, we would get a reward, if we do!"

"Exactly." Saver nodded. "The only downside is that he has to give me a Command Seal, too and even that is actually half of an advantage for him… yes?"

"How?"

"Because now with eight Command Seals, I am not just a danger to the Heaven's Feel, but a legitimate threat for every Master participating! Heck, they might just all team up just to defeat me." Brawler pondered about that.

"That's bad, isn't it?"

"Yep. Are you regretting to have me as your Master?"

"…No. If you hadn't summoned me, I wouldn't have been summoned at all."

"Oh, is that about your wish? I am still a little angry about you lying to me, you know."

"…sorry."

"Na, it's alright. It's not like that would have changed anything. It's such a pity it's not a scientific Noble Phantasm, but an artistic one. You've seen how fast I could give you information about the first, right?"

"…yes."

"Well, don't worry, I am sure, we are going to find it out somehow."

"…yes… and Saver?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks."

* * *

A dark back alley. Filled with a pile of garbage bags and cardboard box. And on that mass lay a figure, either unconscious or sleeping, Volquart couldn't tell. But even in such a bad lightning conditions he recognized the figure with the unique style of clothing at once: Avenger. He didn't knew if it was because of his Mystic Code, but somehow he saw the whole scenery from above. Now suddenly a can of soda rolled through the alley and touched her feet in such an angle that it was catapulted into the air. After moments of upward flight it started to descend again, right onto Avenger's face. But with superhuman reflexes she caught it before it hit her even in her state. However, the can was already open and so some drops of the brown liquid fell onto her cheek. Abruptly she jumped up throwing the can away.

"Were am I?", she asked herself, frantically looking around. "What happened? Why am I here? Why can't I remember anything?" Her pleas remained unheard for everyone except Volquart, but even as he tried to answer, no sound came out of his voice.

* * *

The next morning:

Kayneth, Sola-Ui, Kariya, Lancer and Berserker had waited fifteen hours, before they made their way to the church. They knew, they would be dangerous for the other Masters, once they received the additional Command Seals, so it would not be too farfetched to think that someone might try to attack them on their way to the church, even if it was daytime. That was why they waited a bit, before meeting with the supervisor. But there was one person who had an even greater patience then them. Emiya Kiritsugu was looking at the mowing group through his sniper rifle.

"How is your position?", he asked through the radio.

"Clear! Waiting for orders", Maiya answered.

"Alright." After he had explained their situation towards his allies, they were easy to convince. It was, after all, the best course of action and even Tokiomi had seen it that way. Only his wife had some reservation, probably because of Kotomine, but she still agreed in the end. Of course he did not told his new partners, what he would be doing, but instead just excuses himself. Iri probably was suspecting something, when he had taken Maiya with him.

"3." Opposite to the time at the docks, he had no problems shooting as this time, Iri was safe and sound. If the Servants attacked him after their Master died, he could still summon Saber with a Command Seal. Saber would disapprove of his methods, but would protect him regardless. But as it was daytime, the enemies still had to keep their abilities under wraps, something he didn't need to do as he used modern firearms.

"2"

"Please don't do this!" Kiritsugu rolled onto his back, pointing his rifle, where he had heard the voice coming from. There stood a Japanese man, wearing the same attire that Kiritsugu was wearing. The mind of the killer went into overdrive. Who was this guy? What did he wanted? How did he found me? Why didn't I noticed him earlier? Right now he had only two information about this guy. First: He did not wanted him to kill el-Melloi and/or Kariya and/or maybe el-Melloi's wife. Second, he had the perfect opportunity, but didn't killed him, so he didn't came here to kill him.

"Don't do what?", he asked. If he could bring the man to talk, he might get more answers.

"Why, kill them of course", the man answered unhesitating. "It would be such a pity, if those Servants would be left without a Master, right?"

He knew about Servants that meant he knew about their side of the world. And he only wanted the Servants to stay, so Sola-Ui didn't mattered to him. But protecting the Master because it would decrease the number of Servants? If he was one of the dead apostle this would be a great chance to get a Servant of his own, so he couldn't be one of them. Something like that was more of Saver's style, but that Servant would not feel the need to change his appearance just for him. He would rather take pride in stopping confliction, again. Just what was this man's agenda? The man in question took out a clock and looked at the time, before putting the clock away again.

"You should probably hurry up and go back to your wife", he told Kiritsugu. "It's starting soon and I bet, you don't want to miss that!" Before the killer could react the mysterious man jumped down from the roof, but when Kiritsugu looked for him, he couldn't find him. He told Maiya to abandon their current mission and went straight back home. Just what is going to happen at the Einzbern castle that he would not want to miss?!

* * *

"Greetings, Master el-Melloi and Master Matou, as well as Miss Sophia Ri", Risei welcomed his guests. "If I am right, you are here to claim the Command Seals I have promised."

"Indeed, we are, father Risei", Kayneth, as the official leader of the Archibald alliance, was the one to respond. "If you would be so kind…"

"Yes, of course, if you would give me your hand." Kayneth did like he was told and Risei grabbed it with both of his, only for the Command Seals on his arm to miraculously vanish. Everybody in the room stared silently at the phenomena that happened in front of their eyes. The first to break the silence was Kariya.

* * *

"What did you do?!", he demanded to know. "Where are our Command Seals!"

"I-", Risei had no possible explanation for what happened. Command Seals did not vanish just like that. It just wasn't possible. But the Master of Berserker was too enraged to listen to him.

"Where are our Command Seals?!", he asked, walking menacing towards the priest, only to stop dead in his tracks.

'I think I have to thank Saver, when we meet the next time', was the next thing that was on his mind. **_Un souvenir de Solférino (All Man Are Brothers)_** really did good work this time. Now it wasn't like he was afraid of such a weak magus, but it wouldn't do him any good, when he killed the one, who he was supposed to be rewarding.

"Kayneth", Sola-Ui addressed her husband. "Berserker and Lancer are gone!"

* * *

"_By the power of this Command Seal I order all the Servants to assemble themselves here without engaging into combat for the duration of the whole tutorial!_"

"Where am I?", Saver wondered. A moment before he was with Brawler and Akage, the next he was in a giant plaza, in the centre a monument with a bell. Saver looked around and next to him stood…

"Brawler, so you're here, too."

"Yes… where are we?"

"I have no idea. Although I feel like I should."

"Tch. What the hell did happened now!" Oh, Archer.

"Maybe it's one of those meetings again?" Avenger.

"I do not believe this is the case. Why? Because the supervisor does not have the power to call upon Servants." Assassin.

"Seriously, to summon us just like that, this guy has to be a sorcerer!" Lancer.

"I don't care. I just want to know, why we are here, already!" Berserker.

"I bet they are going to tell us soon enough." Saber. Well, when Saber was here that meant Rider was here, too. That left…

"Hello, honey, nice meeting you here." Caster. He turned around to face the Servant.

"I can't exactly say the same", he declared.

"Oh, don't be so mean", she mock-cried, "after all, we do have a lot of things in common, after all?"

"So? And what would that be?" She smiled a sinister smile and raised both her hands. On one there were the Command Seals for her, the three intervened snakes, but on the other, in the same color, two sets of wings with arrows at their peaks. No, it were three sets. The upper one was just already smudged. Saver couldn't belief his eyes. Wait, are those… Saver now noticed the figures that stood behind her. It couldn't possible be…

"Greetings, players", a voice shouted aloud and interrupted his musings. "I, Servant Ruler, welcome you to the Holy Grail War!" Saver looked up to see another figure in a red set of knight armor flying in the sky above them. Now Saver did something that he had never shown before and which he would gladly deny every time it was brought up, if it weren't for the many eye witnesses. He fell down to his knees, clenched his fists, raised his head and screamed from the bottom of his lungs:

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Well, would you look at that! I finally found a reason to include Ruler, what do you say?

I have to apologize to Mordalfus Grea and njhnaruto for that, but I could hardly admit, I had already planned to include one, right?

Now it finally begins! If you wondered why I never killed off any Servant, yet, this is the reason. The whole story up until now was more or less just to set up the fight between two forces in a realistic way.

Now one could argue that the Servants right now would be enough to make a great story and he would be right! But when I first played with the idea to throw certain individuals at each other in the Holy Grail War, I had a lot more Servants than just twenty-one. I already had to cut out a lot of them and there are some I will not budge. Ruler, who I had at first planned to make a Saber, was one of them.

But I have to admit, I didn't read Fate/Apocrypha and so I am now going to venture into unknown territory, so it will be more likely for me to make an error regarding the workings of the nasuverse. If you manage to detect one, I would appreciate for you to tell me!

Regardless, my next update might take a while, since I am going to enter a very busy phase of my life and will not be able to write as much as before. Please bear with me.

And finally as a bonus I am going to include the parameter chart of Saver with all the Noble Phantasm he has shown up until now in chronological order.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS: ****Saver**

Master: Akaji Akage

True Name:

Sex: Male?

Strength: E

Endurance: E

Agility: C+

Mana: E

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Counter Hero: A+

Induces an effective 3-rank parameter reduction against any opponent that can be classified as a 'Hero.' The parameter-down effect is reduced by one rank in the circumstance that the opponent is of the 'Antihero' category.

Charisma: D

Leadership-skill increases slightly.

Skills

Human Body: ?

Saver doesn't need a Master to exist and has a higher mana regeneration, but can not enter spirit form.

Collector: A+

The talent to collect high quality goods.

Saver is capable of collecting all books and written texts.

High-Speed-Writing: A+

Saver can write fast enough for it not to be noticed.

High-Speed-Incantation: B

Is the capacity to recite spells at high speeds.

The words are nearly unable to be understood.

Rune Magic: A

is knowledge about this type of Magecraft

capacity to use the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark

Acrobatics: B

Is the ability to use acrobatic feats in air combat.

Increases agility by one rank as long as Saver is airborne.

Noble Phantasm

**Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum: Ninety-Five Theses**

Rank: C; Anti-Army; Range: 1-30; Targets: 60 people

Sends golems, familiars, puppets and similar constructs without a free will to fight against their former Master.

**Als ich ein kleiner Junge war: Not Everything Seen by Children Should Be Told to Children**

Rank: B~EX; Anti-Thaumaturgy; Range: 1-50; Targets: 10 attacks

Can attract and absorb any supernatural attacks that can be launched. The rank of the attacks it can absorb is higher, the lower the minimum age of the people observing the attacks is.

**Lutherbibel: So That Even the Uneducated May Hear the Word**

Rank: E; Anti-Information; Range: 1 Targets: 1 text

Can display one chosen text in the vicinity in a way that everybody looking at it will think of it as his own mother tongue.

**The Daily Universal Register: The Londoner Times**

Rank: E; Anti-Information; Range: infinitive; Targets: infinitive

A newspaper that has all the noticeable events of the day before in it. You can roll it up to use it as a telescope.

**Kinder- und Hausmärchen: Once Upon a Time**

Rank: E~A+; ?; Range: ?; Targets: ?

When something that happened in similar to one story written in this Noble Phantasm you can force the story to be continued.

**Desconhort: On the Superiority of Reason**

Rank: E; Anti-Unit; Range: 1-20; Targets: 1 person

Reduces the targets "Mad Enhancement" by one rank.

**El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha: These Are no Windmills**

Rank: A; Anti-Army; Range: 0-999; Targets: 1000 people

Can make people and objects look like something or someone different in the same size. As long as its name is not known, even some abilities of the disguise can taken over.

**Ars Generalis Ultima: The Great Universal Art of Finding Truth**

Rank: E; Anti-Information; Range: 1-30; Targets: 1 statement

Shows you, if someone told a lie, as long as with your current information you have any reason to doubt that statement.

**Liber de Lumine: The Golden Book of Light**

Rank: C; Anti-Gate; Range: 1-50; Targets: 100 objects

Turn metal objects in the vicinity into liquid gold.

**Artifitium electionis personarum: Tracts on Election Procedures**

Rank: E; Anti-Unit; Range: 1-50; Targets: 100 people

Makes golems, familiars, puppets and similar constructs without a free will lose their connection to their owner.

**Huangdi neijing: The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon**

Rank: D; Anti-Information; Range: 0; Targets: 0 people

It has at last one cure for every illness and torment of the body written inside of it.

**Un souvenir de Solférino: All Man Are Brothers**

Rank: A++; Range: infinitive; Targets: 1 religious building

By placing it in a chosen area it can turn said area into a Non-Combat-Zone, where everybody absolutely cannot take any hostile actions and receives a small regenerative boost. It can only be removed by the person who placed it.

**Aesopica: And The Moral of It Is**

Rank: E; Anti-Army; Range: ?; Targets: 1000 animals

Gives animals the ability to comprehend and use human speech.

**Les Passions de l'âme: Soul and Body Are One**

Rank: A; Anti-Unit; Range: 1; Targets: 1 person

Binds a soul to the body it's currently inhabiting.

**Prelati's Spellbook: Text of the Sunken Spiraled City**

Rank: A+; Anti-Army; Range: 1-10; Targets: 100 people

The book itself is a monster that functions as a core with its own prana and can summons an army of Horrors, demons from a different dimension.

**Dr. Fausts vierfacher Höllenzwang: To Control the Ghosts of the Four Elements**

Rank: C; Anti-Team; Range: 1-50; Targets: 100 people

Summons apparitions controlling one different element each.

**Casa Di Logistilla: Destruction Declaration**

Rank: C; Anti-Unit/Anti-Thaumaturgy; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

A thick magic-binding leather book that has the ability to disable magical properties. When equipped it gives "Magic Resistance" of Rank A.

**Höllenzwang: To Call upon the Devil**

Rank: B; Anti-Unit; Range: 1-30; Targets: 1 person

Summons a demon looking like a black poodle that can turn into black fog whenever it is hit. It can be trapped by a pentagram.

**Arbre de la ciència, Arbor Scientiae: All Science Is Connected**

Rank: E; Anti-Unit/Anti-Information; Range: 1-50; 1 Noble Phantasm

Displays name, origin, workings and weaknesses of a scientific Noble Phantasm in the vicinity.

**Schindler's Liste: One Who Saves One Person Saves the World**

Rank: D; Anti-Unit; Range: 0-15; Targets: 1 person

Makes it impossible for one person to putt a bounty on your head.

**De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis: For Nobody Consults with Demons Voluntarily**

Rank: C; Anti-Unit/Anti-Information/Anti-Demon; Range: 1-20; Targets: 1 person

Can free a person from all mental influences, destroy and exorcise demons. Under certain conditions it can also summon demons to answer questions.

**Jabberwocky: The Monster in the Mirror**

Rank: A; Anti-Unit; Range; 1; Targets: 1 reflection

Turns your reflection into the Jabberwocky in the story after reciting the whole poem from the mirror.

**Über das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne und einiger anderer Gestirne des Himmels: The Doppler Effect**

Rank: A; Anti-Team; Range: 0-30; Targets: 50 people

Creates invisible waves that mess with the opponent's sense of gravity and distance.

**Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There: The Land behind the Mirror**

Rank: B; Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

Creates a mirror-image of you that can take an attack that was meant for you.

**Pot of Wisdom: Shattering of the Stories**

Rank: C; Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

Covers the user in a giant spider made out of sheets of paper. The user can decide, what kind of pages to use. It can block any attack of a lower rank than this Noble Phantasm.


	22. Chapter 21: Dead Apostle

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you for your reviews.

Since the uploading of the new chapters will take longer from now on, I will reply to reviews with a PM and only answer those before the chapter, that come from guest-reviews or are so important, that everybody needs to know.

Chapter 21: Dead Apostle

Two days earlier:

Couldn't they just hurry up and kill each other already?! Angra Mainyu was getting impatient. They always fought and fought, but never killed each other. Caster was hiding and evading every attempt to destroy her and Saver stopped the others from killing each other. Additionally, everybody seems to be teaming up with each other. This was supposed to be a Grail War! Not some fucking "Red vs. Blue"! … wait! That's it! If they wanted to team up that badly, why not letting them?! Didn't the founders of the Grail War system actually implanted a failsafe, for when the participants took way too long the finish the fight? Yes, the summoning of an additional set of heroes! And this time he would definitely look closer of the alignments of the summoned heroes. Especially the Knight classes and the Saver class.

Speaking of Saver, that was going to be a problem. Where would he get the prana needed for eleven additional Servants?! Even with only the seven original classes, the Master would have to supply the prana for the summoning themselves. When the Master was weak, he would get a weak Servant. That was reality and without the assistance of the Grail its effects became even greater. So, how could he still make it so that a lot of Servants would be summoned, able to defeat the likes of Saver and Berserker?

Maybe… the first Magic, "Denial of Nothingness"! An ability that created something out of nothing could maybe create prana out of nothing. Now actually it was creating objects completely without the use of prana and in a way that they would not slowly fade because of Gaia's influence after the summoning, but in the Grail everything didn't had any shape at all, so it might just work. He knew that instinctively, like he used the fifth Magic instinctively to survive at the end of the first fifth Heaven's Feel.

So now that he had decided on this, he had to decide on who to choose as Masters. Courtesy dedicated it to be one of the three founder families, the Einzbern, the Tohsaka and the Matou. It was easy for him to decide the representative for the Einzbern. He was after thankful to the one, who helped him get born the first time.

The Matou, well, there was only one strong enough, but the real problem came from the Tohsaka family. Rin was still too young, Tokiomi already had one and Aoi didn't even had magic circuits. Maybe he should jump across them. Yes, it wasn't what they expected when they created the Grail, but if there were no suitable candidates, it can just jump over them. That meant, he had still to find eight more Masters.

Well, the four dead apostle would do nicely. And how about that Edelfelt-woman that just came to Fuyuki City, not too long ago? He knew the Edelfelt. In the third war they had used their sorcery traits to summon two Saber-class Servants, even if it didn't help them in the long run. That left three missing spots.

Hmm... Caster had shown a lot of potential. He liked her way of doing things. And since she was a Servant, he might be capable of including a Saver that wasn't Buddha or some other nice guy and strong all the same. Two left... Now it was getting difficult. There was still a Matou that he could choose, but this guy was to weak, he wouldn't be able to support anything except Avenger. Luckily the spot for Avenger's Master was still open. But that left one last Servant. And he didn't want to make Lancer a Master. So, who to choose?

* * *

Famine was all exited. He opened the door of his western-styled room and to the door on the opposite site.

"Guys, guys!", he shouted while hammering against the door, before rushing to the next one, repeating the procedure. "Look, look, what I have!" One his right hand were three red tattoos that together looked like an upside-down heart under a cross.

"I have them, too", Pest exclaimed, showing the red skulls that appeared on his right hand.

"What is this racket supposed to be all about!", a grumpy War shouted as he walked out of his door. "Some people are trying to sleep!"

"You have them, too", Famine exclaimed happy, but War didn't knew, what he was talking about, until he indicated towards his right hand. There were another set of Command Seals, in the shape of one axe and two flames.

"I knew someday the Holy Grail would acknowledge my strength!", he uttered full of confidence, conveniently forgetting that sometimes even weak guys like Caster's former Master could summon a Servant. Famine opened a fourth door only to close it again frowning.

"Where's Death?", he asked.

"Probably still in the living room", Pest answered.

"You are probably right", Famine conceded. "He likes watching the fireplace, after all." Their guesses had been turned out to be true. Death was sitting in a chair, lost in his thoughts while staring at the fireplace.

"Death, Death", Famine shouted and shook him to get his attention. "Look, look! We've got Command Seals!" The dead apostle broke out of his musings and his gaze fell upon the hand that his brother showed to him, excitedly. He looked down at his right hand and could see something that resembled a sword with a skull.

"I see", he finally said, "the Grail has finally acknowledged us. This in indeed great news. Let us get our catalysts right now and perform the summoning ritual at once!"

On the faces of the three brothers appeared big smiles of anticipating, when suddenly everybody went stiff. Something had triggered their alarm system. It didn't make a loud noise, but instead sent something like a ringing into their heads. The problem: what had been triggered, was the first line of their defenses. Something that actually should not have happened. It was supposed to be found and disabled, not ignored. Either the person attacking them didn't knew, what he was doing, or he didn't feel the need to hide his approach.

However, with how fast he was advancing, it didn't look like he came here for some negotiation. The brothers looked at each other and then nodded in unison. War charged into the direction the intruder was coming from, while the rest went into the other way, respectively exiting the house via front- and back door. The plan was for War to engage the enemy and if he proved too strong, to die and give them information about their opponent after his revival. Blood sprouted from War's arm, turning into his favorite weapon: a battle-axe.

"Now, let's see, what you've got!" He reinforced his body, just as a precaution and looked with reinforced eyes, for the newcomer. There: A big shadow closing in on him. But it wasn't the figure of a human. It was a giant leopard, easily the size of two people with a dark gray fur and red eyes. Before War could react, it was already at him. The dead apostle raised his giant axe protectively, but the animal had enough force to knock him over without any effort. The fake Sakoshimo couldn't even scream, as he was torn apart by the giant beast.

* * *

"By now he should have encountered the enemy", Death conducted. "Pest, you know what to do?"

"Yes." Every two minutes he would try to call him back. If he appeared that meant, the opponent had defeated him. If he didn't that meant, they were still fighting or War had won. It was really a great weakness that they couldn't feel, when one of them died, it really would make some things easier. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a movement. He spun around and held out his hands. The skin at his left arm shifted and turned into a bow, before splitting up from his body, while the skin at his right fingertips shifted into three arrows. He took only a split-second to aim and shot. The arrows hit their target dead centre: a big black wolf with red eyes. But unlike a normal animal, after it died, it turned into a black puddle of some unidentifiable material. Pest became even paler, as his gaze fell upon the abomination.

"It's him!", he shouted panicking, as a full pack of the black wolves, jumped out of the surroundings, circling around them. It had been a big mistake to sent out War alone. This was not an opponent that they could hope to defeat with only three of them. Famine turned part of his hair into his favorite blades, while Death bones shifted and one broke out of his shoulder. Death pulled it out, and while it was first still looking like a real bone, it soon turned into a giant scythe. But opposite to the weapons of his brothers, this one still looked like it was made out of bone.

"Famine", he told his brother. "We will make a path for you and hold him off as long as we can. As long as one of us stays alive, we can still fulfill our wish." As if they had received a silent signal, all the wolves attacked at once. Death spun his scythe around, beheading one and impaling a second. Famine drilled his blade into the eye of a third, grabbing him and throwing him against a fourth, before rushing at that one, slitting his throat. Pest let his arrows fly and shot down multiple of them, before he jumped up, as under him a gigantic black crocodile emerged. In air he spun around and letting arrows hail into the open mouth of the creature, turning it into a black puddle. Now different kinds of big cats appeared that they had to fend off. In the fraction of a second Death judged the situation.

"There!", he shouted and threw his scythe in one direction. While flying through the air in a rotating motion, it cut threw all different kind of animals and Famine quickly followed it. He jumped over a shark that "swam" through the ground and as the fish was jumping up to catch him, it was hit by one of Pest's arrows, effectively throwing it if course. Now a giant creature, looking like the mix of a spider and a crab, attacked the unprotected back of the unarmed Death, only to be blocked by two bone-blades, erupting from his shoulders.

Meanwhile a black buffalo and deer charged at Famine from two sides, as simultaneously a gorilla jumped at him from above. Out of every part of his body, covered in skin, an arrow appeared, shooting away from him and nailing the attacking parties in their tracks. He rolled forwards to evade the black mass that once had the shape of an ape and was now falling down. He grimaced as one horse nearly trampled him, before he could shoot it down. He could feel how his speed and strength was decreasing, as the Blood Resonance stopped to include their brother Famine, because he was already too far away. He really hated dying. Even though he knew that he could be reborn, it still grabbed his heart with fear every time he thought about it. But Famine was undisputed the fastest of them. If one would be able to escape, it would be him. That's why Pest grit his teeth and shot another round of arrows at the horde.

* * *

Famine was running as fast as he could. They had finally received the chance to fulfill their wish. A whole century they had searched for a way and now they found one: the Holy Grail. It could grant every wish, even theirs. The only problem had been the participation. They could not fail, not when they were so close! But all his hopes was destroyed, when a tall man with gray hair wearing a black trench coat appeared, effectively blocking his path.

"I congratulate you for escaping my clutches for this long, but this will be the end of the line." He spoke completely calm and walked nonchalantly towards him. That was it. Famine realized it. That was the end. He would die and his brothers would, too, if they weren't already dead. Such a pitiful end for people, who were named after the four horseman of the apocalypse. But there was nothing that could save them anymore, only a miracle. Wait! A miracle? If he could just summon a Servant, he might would be able to survive. His hair slashed out, dispatched itself and fell to the ground in the pattern of a summoning circle. Quickly he began to chant:

"_The base is made out of silver and steel._

_The foundation is stone and the lord of contracts._

_By the great ancestor, the Master Schweineorg._

_A wall will block the falling wind._

_The gates to all four directions will close._

_From the crown, come fourth and venture through the forest to the king._"

His opponent, realizing, what he was trying to do, explosively increased his pace. Famine panicked. He wouldn't make it in time.

"_Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill._

_Repeat Five Times._

_But destroy each when filled._"

It was too late, the enemy had already reached him. His black abdomen ripped open and a black mixture between an arm and a sting appeared, ready to impale the dead apostle. But it was somehow blocked, as the ground around them suddenly gained some dark violet veins and shot up, building a protective ring around Famine. He, who couldn't believe his luck, just continued to chant:

"_I hereby propose._

_You shall come under my command and your blade shall control my fate._

_If you accept my will and reason, answer me under the summons of the Holy Grail._"

His enemy had to jump back, as black lightning came down from the sky, striking at the place he just had been before.

"_I make my oath here._

_I will become the white of the eternal world, I will slay the chaos of the eternal world._"

Now a rhino charged out of the depths of the trench coat, but was effectively pinned down by three Friuli-Spears.

"_Under the six heavens, you clad with the Great Trinity, come fourth from the circle of refraction._

_Guardian of The Heavenly Scales!_"

ower soared through the summoning circle and engulfed the world in a bright light. When the light died down in the middle of the summoning circle stood a tall man, whose figure was completely disclosed by the black mantle with hood he wore. The man took on look at the situation, before grabbing Famine and vanished with him into some kind of black hole. After they were gone, the rocks around the place lost the supernatural color and crumbled. The offender made no move anymore and no more attacks followed.

"Why did you interfere", the man spoke in the same calm voice. Out of the shadows stepped another man. This one was just as tall as the first, but had a rough, wrinkled head and even though his clothes were black-themed, too, they looked more like traditional Japanese ones.

"Because he was about to summon a Servant."

"That is no reason."

"No, the reason is that some of the summoned Servants interest me a bit and I want to see, how they fare against other ones, too."

"You know, what they probably want to use the Holy Grail for?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then you will understand that I must not allow this. For now I will hold myself back. But if it looks like they are going to win, I will kill them. Even if I have to destroy you first!"

"Oh? Well, don't worry, I won't get in your way, if it really looks like that. Tell you what? I'll even keep their Servants busy for… five minutes, while you kill them. Or longer, if I feel like it."

"Acknowledged."

"So, did you thought a bit about my proposal I gave you the other time?"

"The answer is still no."

"Aw, come on! What does have to happen, for you to finally accept? Your death?!" The man in the trench coat turned around.

"When I do die, you can ask me again."

"Really?! I'll hold you onto that!"

* * *

Dietlinde Edelfelt was fuming with rage. How dared her brother do that to her! He just sent a letter, telling her that Sakoshimo had been killed and that he was now staying in Fuyuki for now. Nothing else. No explanation, how that happened, what happened to the documents or why he suddenly decided to stay in that backwater place. She might have thought that he tried to extricate himself from the debt he owned her, if it weren't for the fact that he would never leave the research, the Clock Tower had to offer, for something like that.

Did he read the documents that she had given him, killed Hiroko and extracted a method to create something similar to the gem she gave him? So that was, how her graciousness was repaid?! Her dear brother would be paying for that treacherousness! And she herself would be the one delivering the punishment. That was why she was currently flying on a _public_ airplane towards Japan. Yes, that big was her rage. And helping her revenge would be the Command Seals in shape of a shooting star on her left hand and the story she had in her luggage, "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter". She would show her brother, just what happened to those, crossing an Edelfelt!

* * *

"Master Einzbern? You have received a message." One homunculus with red eyes, wearing a maid uniform was carrying a letter that she handed over to the head of the Einzbern family, Jubstacheit von Einzbern. The tall and sublime eight head of the Einzbern family was already nearly two hundred years old, yet his eyes did not show even the littlest trace of senility. He accepted the latter and opened it. The content definitely surprised him, even if he didn't show it. It seemed that Zouken was proposing an alliance for the Grail War. Not towards the Einzbern family but towards himself!

He looked at his left hand, where he could see something that resembled a really contorted sword with bat-like wings. Somehow the old vampire had found out that he had received a set of Command Seals, additionally to the ones, Kiritsugu had. He still couldn't believe that the fool had taken so long that it triggered the failsafe of the Holy Grail. So that was, what happened, when you entrusted an outsider to do something important. He had done this the last time, that was for sure.

But beside that, Matou's proposal was certainly interesting. The head of the Matou family offered to help him win the Heaven's Feel, in exchange for the Holy Grail, after they had won. Interesting. Maybe he should accept. With all the original and additional Servants around, it would not be unhelpful to have some more support. After his display up until now, he did not knew, if the Kiritsugu, the so called magus killer, was actually cut out for the job.

* * *

Hi guys and gals.

Sorry, but you are going to have to wait for the next chapter to see (most of) the new Servants. This is more like a Prolog for the next part of the story. However, I used this opportunity to explain, why we never saw any of the horseman in the original visual novel.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	23. Chapter 22: Meet the New Servants

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews!

Now **Flagarach** made me aware of a crucial fact that I didn't knew before: It is impossible for a Servant to attack its Master as long as he has Command Seals. This is to ensure that a Servant does not kill its Master and makes a contract with a stronger one. I looked through the wiki and even Medea, the Witch of Betrayal had to make her Master waste his Command Seals for mundane things before she could use **_Rule Breaker_** on him. Not helping your Master when they are in times of need is fair game, though.

Luckily I don't need to change the story for this as someone has yet to actively attack their Master and even when Caster used **Body Possession** on Ryuunosuke, it was to save his life.

Chapter 22: Meet the New Servants

One day before:

"Finally the preparations are finished", Famine sighed. He sounded tired. But so were his three brothers. After he had escaped thanks to his Servant and the mysterious stranger, he had first revived them. They had been rather surprised when he told them what happened. And afterwards they had decide to do the summoning ritual as quickly as possible.

But after calling back the others from their death he still had been weak for at last half a day. And they wouldn't want to summon a Servant, while they were weakened, so they had to summon them, when they magical power was on their peak, meaning eight-forty six in the evening. But all the time they feared another attack from Nrvnqsr Chaos, the tenth dead apostle ancestor that hunted those, who were deemed a threat to the ancestors in general. So, to the physical exhaustion was mental exhaustion added. And so Famine drew all the summoning circles for his three brothers. At last his Servant had no problems with him being a dead apostle or using the blood of humans to draw the circles.

Then he had to retrieve the catalysts they had gathered over the past century. If it weren't for Nrvnqsr's attack, he would have used a saké guard as a catalyst, but right now he wasn't complaining about his Servant. The ability to go into some different dimension and even take other people with him would be a real asset already alone. Although he did mention one should not do that too often without some protection against darkness.

So, he wasn't sad about it. But for his brothers… War had acquired a giant butcher knife that supposedly was used to dismember a certain Greek human. For Pestilence they had collected a book. In this book were depicted all the heirs of a certain Shin Buddhism temple that acquired this position since its construction. And Death had stolen a manuscript from a certain museum in New York City that depicted, how to wield different kinds of weapons in different situations.

"Interesting", commented Famine's Servant. "So this is how you summon a hero?"

"Yes. This and the summoning spell. When I summoned you, I used my hair to create a summoning circle on the spot, but it works best with blood, especially human blood."

"Then you are fortunate that it worked."

"Yes, very. Especially since hair is light enough to be shifted with the smallest breeze."

"Hey, Famine", a voice called out. "Are you finally ready?"

"War. So you are finally feeling better. Does that mean, you can now carry out the Servant summoning?"

"You bet! Nothing is going to stop me now! I am going to win the Heaven's Feel."

"If my memory serves me correctly, didn't you said, you are going to build an alliance for the duration of the Holy Grail War?", the Servant asked.

"Of course we will, Lancer", reassured Famine his Servant. "But War's always too competitive. What he meant is that after we defeated all the others, his Servant will prevail over ours."

"I highly doubt that." Famine laughed.

"It's not like he knows, how powerful his Servant will be exactly, yet, even if he uses a catalyst! He is just issuing a challenge!"

"As long as he does not forget the goal, I don't care." War narrowed his eyes.

"Are you telling me, I am beneath you?!", he accused.

"No, he is just telling us not to attack each other, while there are still other enemies remaining", clarified Death, who just went into the room, to stop them from going at each other throats. "Speaking of, it is time. Let us commence the summoning ritual! They nodded in unison and took their positions: Death, War and Pestilence next to a summoning circle, each with their special catalyst in it, holding their hands above it. Famine and Lancer stood aside, supervising them. Then on a silent signal, they started:

"_The base is made out of silver and steel._

_The foundation is stone and the lord of contracts._

_By the great ancestor, the Master Schweineorg._

_A wall will block the falling wind._

_The gates to all four directions will close._

_From the crown, come fourth and venture through the forest to the king._

_Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill._

_Repeat Five Times._

_But destroy each when filled._

_I hereby propose._

_You shall come under my command and your blade shall control my fate._

_If you accept my will and reason, answer me under the summons of the Holy Grail._

_(But let thou eyes be clouded by the night, a beast locked in a cage of madness and I who holds the chains.)_

_I make my oath here._

_I will become the white of the eternal world, I will slay the chaos of the eternal world._

_Under the six heavens, you clad with the Great Trinity, come fourth from the circle of refraction._

_Guardian of The Heavenly Scales!_"

War was not finished, when the summoning circles of Death and Pestilence already started to glow. That was because midway he added two lines to the incantation, specific lines to make sure, he would receive a Servant of the Berserker class. When his circle finally started to glow, everybody had already closed or covered his eyes because of the light of the first two ones. And when the light died down, there stood three figures in the summoning circles.

The first to draw gazes was actually the last one summoned, the Servant of War. The reason: He was standing on fire. Literally. Blue flames flickered around his whole body, two especially big tongues at his forehead and one at his _tail_. That's right he had a black tail with a bushy end. But that wasn't the only physical appendage that was inhuman about him. He had way too long canines and too long _pointy_ ears. The absurdness of this picture was only reinforce, by him wearing a Japanese _school uniform_ consisting of a white shirt, black jeans and a god-forsaken _necktie_!

Pestilence's Servant was fairly normal looking, if it wasn't for the bird peak-like mask that covered his mouth and nose, decorated with a lot of canine fangs. Otherwise he had a typical western cowboy appearance, complete with a cowboy hat and boots.

Death Servant was the most human looking, a handsome young man with blond hair, wearing white clothes, including a cloak, which appearance indicated that he actually was a hero from the _past_. What they weren't prepared for was, when suddenly Death Servant turned around, pointing his sword at War's one.

* * *

"Welcome to my humble home, Master Einzbern."

"Zouken. Do you have prepared everything?"

"Yes, everything is prepared. As we speak, my son Byakuya is waiting in front of the summoning circle for us."

"Does that mean, there are now two additional Masters for the Matou family?" Jubstacheit von Einzbern could clearly see the Command Seals in she shape of three eyes that were arranged in a wheel-like manner.

"Just as there had been two Masters for the Tohsaka family and there are now two Masters for the Einzbern family. Besides, it pains me to admit it, but Byakuya is not strong enough to win the Holy Grail War on his own, regardless of summoned Servant. I am surprised the Grail chose him at all."

That was the reason why he didn't gave the piece of the round table that he had included in Kariya's summoning ritual to Byakuya. He would not be able to sustain a Servant of that caliber. He would not make Byakuya suffer by letting him summon a Servant he couldn't support as, now that the failsafe activated, he might have an actual chance to claim the Holy Grail.

"Do you have already summoned your Servant?", the head of the Einzbern family asked.

"Yes. Assassin is currently observing the church."

"Assassin. So that is why you sought out an alliance with me. Then please let me show you my Servant. Rider!" Right on cue a black figure materialized beside him. It was impossible to tell, if it was a man or a woman, as he could only see a long black cloak, metal boots and gauntlets. It's head was covered by a spiked helm with a long chin-like addition, but even though the place, where the mouth and eyes were, lay bare, one could only see black shadows under the head-gear.

"I will slay everyone, standing in my way", it said in a calm, deep and silently echoing voice, emitting a sense of dread. There was no doubt in the voice of this creature, as if he was stating a fact.

"Oh? So we can finally slay people? Happy, happy", a voice made itself known. She belonged to a middle-aged man, wearing a pale shirt, black trousers, made stable with a big belt and a black necktie. He wore some kind of ski-mask that didn't covered his face and hair, the letter being yellow in color and styled backwards. Especially showy were the two bangs at the front that were also directed backwards, like a flashy bicycle helmet. Additionally he had a big green eye dead-centre on his forehead and wore some headphones.

"Patience, Assassin", the old magus told his Servant. "You will be killing people soon enough!" Suddenly his head flew through the air, detached from his shoulders. In one swift movement Assassin had crossed the distance and cut off the head of his Master with a katar emerging out from his sleeve.

"Hehehe", Zouken's voice sounded through the environment. "There is no reason to be so hasty, Assassin." The face of the Servant was distorted into a crazy smile, while the remains of Zouken turned into pile of Crest Worms that slithered away into the shadows.

"Happy, happy", he said gleefully. "Someone I can behead again and again? Happy, happy."

"Hehehe." Zouken walked out of the shadows, "Let us go to Byakuya for now. He is probably already trembling in impatience and fear!" Assassin made no second attempt to end his Master's life but followed him smiling in anticipation. All the way to the basement he chatted in his of bloodlust and violence-reeking voice.

"I can't wait to see the other Servant! Does he like killing as much as I do? Rider sure does look like it. Happy, happy."

'For an Assassin he is rather talkative', was the thought on Jubstacheit's mind. Finally they reached the basement.

"I have waited for you, just like you told me, too", Byakuya, the blue-haired brother of Kariya said. "A-and you have A-Assassin with you, as well." The Servant's smile grew even larger. "A-and the Master of the Einzbern. It is a great pleasure to meet you!"

"Hehehe", Zouken laughed, "why don't you show Master Einzbern your Servant summoning."

"Yes, at once!

_Let silver and steel be the essence._

_Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation._

_Let my great Master Makiri be the ancestor._

_Give raise to a wall to block the falling wind._

_Let the gates of all four directions close._

_From the Crown, come fourth and follow the forked road to the Kingdom._

_Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill._

_Fill five times,_

_Only to destroy when filled._

_I propose, My Fate will be bound to your sword and your body to my will._

_By the summons of the Holy Grail, if you accept this contract, answer me!_

_I swear!_

_I am all the good of the eternal world. I am all the evil of the eternal world._

_From all seven heavens, under the power of three, come forth from the circle of restraint._

_Guardian of Balance!_"

Byakuya's Command Seals in the shape of a wheel made out of three wings, glowed and the same did the summoning circle, engulfing everything in a white light. When the light died down, there stood the figure of a women. She had long black hair that in two strands fell down right and left of her face. She wore a blue jacket with rolled up sleeves that was left open, revealing a dark green shirt. Further down was a brown-red rock that covered her knees and black shoes. Her clothes suggested that she had been rather poor in her life. She took on look at the gathered people before sighing. She took out a cigarette package, withdrew one and ignited it with a really old-looking lighter.

"Are you my Servant?", Byakuya asked. At first she didn't respond, but instead took a pull at her cigarette. She waited a bit before exhaling the smoke.

"It appears, I am", she answered then. "And the class I have been granted… is Avenger." Zouken snorted.

"It looks like you are just as a failure as your brother. Summoning Avenger, the weakest class."

"Are you really Avenger?", Jubstacheit wanted to make sure.

"That's what I said." That shouldn't be possible. He was the one to create the Avenger class. It was a class only made for one certain Heroic Spirit: Angra Mainyu. But the Avenger in front of him was definitely not Angra Mainyu. So, who was she?

* * *

Dietlinde Edelfelt couldn't help but frown when she looked at her Servant. No matter how you looked at it, this was no Moon Princess. First, the figure in front of her was a very tall and slim man. Second, he wore a black suit with a white necktie, black shows and a black top hat. Just what kind of hero was he?! The man looked down at her. Memorable were also his curved eye-brows and goatee.

"So, you are my Master? I see.", he spoke up.

"Indeed I am. May I ask, what class you are?"

"It appears I am summoned as a Brawler." Brawler? Forget not receiving a Caster, she didn't even managed to summon a regular class?!

"For know let's go back to my workshop." For the duration of the Grail War she had decided to rent a hotel room, one that was decorated similar to her elegant room in London. But that wasn't, where she was right now, as she could not do something like summoning a Servant in a place full of commoners. So she had went out one night and made her servants prepare the ritual in some kind of forest. It was such a pity she had to sent all of her staff back after this, but it would be too conspicuous to stay in such a large group. Especially since they were foreigners. Everybody would know on the spot that she was a Master. And that was the reason she was currently walking alone with her Servant. Speaking of which…

"Aren't you going to assume Spirit Form?"

"Sure." Soon enough Brawler vanished by turning into black particles.

* * *

Caster looked at the Command Seals on her hands with mixed feelings. She knew that it was possible for a Servant to summon a Heroic Spirit – Saver already did this – but should she? On the one hand it would be a great asset to have another Heroic Spirit in her team, but on the other hand she would need a lot of prana to sustain him. Was it really worth it? After long consideration she finally decided to do it. If she suddenly received Command Seals, there might be others who did, too. If she wanted to win the Holy Grail War and reincarnate, she would have to get every help she could.

And that was why she had drawn the summoning circle on the ground and started the ritual. Now it was interesting to note that the knowledge from the Holy Grail did indeed cover the summoning ritual. It looked as if the creators of the Holy Grail System didn't cut that out of the knowledge, the Servants received from the Grail. But why should they have done that? Nobody would have thought that it was actually possible for a Servant to summon one themselves. They really should have defined the rules better.

"_The base is of silver and steel._

_The foundation of stone and the lord of contracts._"

First you had to create the foundations. For that you had to metaphorically "build" where you wanted the summon to take place. The parts necessary were a noble metal – usually silver as gold was somewhat of a magical insulator – a strong metal – at first they used iron, but later it turned to steel – a most used building material – in other words stone – and then a metaphorically construction manager, someone to hold the contract together. The next part was more difficult. She had to call upon one of her ancestors or someone she recognized as a personal role model. The problem was, she didn't knew her parents, so that was out, but there was the legend about her namesake in this world and this person had ancestors.

"_Let Gaia be my great ancestor._

_Let a wall block the falling wind._

_And close the gates to all four directions._"

The next step would be to confine the place. The falling wind referred to the outside influences that could interfere with the ritual and the four directions to the four cardinal directions that you had to close off.

"_From the Throne, come fourth and follow the laborious road to the kingdom._"

Now she had to create a passage between this world, the kingdom and the Throne of Heroes.

"_Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill._

_Fill it five times,_

_But destroy each when filled._"

Now the accumulation of prana. Five times, one for each of the standard elements.

"_I proclaim!_

_My will shall create your body and you shall create my fate_!"

Now the actual contract. First you had to announce that _you_ would be the Master, the one providing the mana and the one that the Servant would be fighting for.

"_Under the summons of the Holy Grail, if you accept this will and reason, answer me!_"

Now you had to ask the Servant to respond to your plea. As every Heroic Spirit that could be summoned had a wish, this was more of a formality, but you didn't want to piss off a powerful entity, right? It made sure that the Servant could not claim, to be summoned without its consent.

"_I hereby swear!_

_I will become the good in the eternal world, I will dispose of the evil in the world._"

Now the swear. She had no illusions about her being not someone, you could call 'good', but even other Master with an evil alignment had to do the same.

"_Now come from the trinity of the Heaven's, past all the restraining bounds,_

_Protector of the Balance!_"

At last the actual summon itself. Since you basically had to summon them from the afterlife, you had to call upon some higher power to let them come from the chains that bonded them to their death. And as soon as she said this, the summoning circle glowed and engulfed everything in a white light. And when it died down…

"What is this madness?!", a female-like voice sounded. "I, the savior of the world shall bow down to another?!" Caster reacted instinctive.

"_By the power of this Command Seal, I order you, to not lay your hand against me or take steps towards my demise!_" Now she knew that thanks to the Command Seals it was impossible for a Heroic Spirit to kill its Master outright. This was to make sure, they did not finished off their Master and went to search for someone better. On the other hand her own Master was now dead and since her current Servant did not seem to be happy with her, she decided to make sure just in case.

"Ugh! How dare you!", the Servant raged. "You will pay for this treachery!" For the first time Caster could make out the appearance of the Heroic Spirit she summoned. It was a young boy with blond hair, wearing a white toga, covering his left leg and leaving his right one bare, as well as golden circlets around his wrists and ankles. Furthermore his left arm and the left side of his body and head were covered in purple glyphs. But the most striking feature about him were the four pairs of white wings he had on his back! No, make that eight. He had another pair smaller ones at his head and one around his waist like an accessory.

"I think we need to clarify some ground rules", Caster said sweetly. "I don't know, if you got the rule book, but as long as I am your Master, you will obey me. You got that?" The newly summoned Servant was glaring daggers at her, but he couldn't find a good comeback. He had, after all, received the knowledge from the Grail regarding this matter.

"Besides", Caster continued. "I am a Servant myself. I don't exactly need you. It just makes things easier. But if you want to reach the Grail, you'll need a Master. Now, please tell me, what your class it!"

"I already told you! I am the savior!" Oh, now that was something she didn't calculated. A big smile made it to her face.

"Saver? Really? Then let's take a look at your class abilities… **Charisma** and… **Counter Hero**?! No wonder he had no qualms about fighting against Berserker and Lancer! He is a lot more dangerous than I thought he would be. If it weren't for the geis, I would already been dead three times over. Now we only have to figure out his rank. Yours is B, giving at last one rank down in all parameters in all the Servants you face. This will come in handy, indeed!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

So, now we have nearly all new Servants. There is only one missing, but he will appear soon enough in the next chapter. Now I know, that for some of them, namely Death's and Pest's Servant, I did not mention their classes. So they can be either Saber, Archer or Caster. But as mentioned, this will be cleared up in the next chapter.

Like I said in the beginning of the Author Notes – and in the chapter – Heroic Spirits are not able to kill their Masters directly. The reason why Assassin is able to attack Zouken is that Zouken allows it to keep his Servant in line more easily.

Oh, and I hope you like how I made Caster explain, how the summoning aria was composed. I don't know for sure, if that's it, but it seemed logical to me while I had been writing it.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	24. Chapter 23: Red or Black

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews!

Chapter 23: Red or Black

Everybody finally had summoned their Servants. Caster had been the last one. Now Angra Mainyu didn't put much attention to what kind of Heroic Spirit that Master summoned, but if took its Master into consideration, it was sure to become an interesting one. It was such a pity that he couldn't let them summon the heroes their catalysts were for. Truly a pity. There had never been someone trying to summon Kaguya, Fiori, Hideyoshi, Nasu or Lyacaon into the Fuyuki Holy Grail War, at last not from the third to fifth. He had no knowledge about the first and second, except what had been told to him while he had been on earth, which had not been much.

Now to be fair, he had no real reason to change the Heroic Spirits this time around. Well, no reason except a sense of foreboding regarding Saver. Since Saver was a collector of stories, there was probably no myth he didn't knew, no matter how small or how territorial confined the legend was. He didn't want to risk Saver winning the Holy Grail War by knowing all their identities just because he read it somewhere. That this guy maybe was a Counter Guardian like his Master's future self was not exactly reassuring either. So, he decided to let them continue to summon Heroic Spirits from other worlds. The second Saber was kind of an experiment to see, what Saver would do against a Heroic Spirit whose name was known but did not quite matched with his legend.

Regardless, now it was finally time to summon the last one, the Ruler. The one whose Master was the Grail itself, in other words, him. Seriously, he had to be the only Master who could with a hundred percent possibility decide which Servant he wanted to summon. And he didn't need a catalyst, so he could choose anyone, anyone that fit for the class Ruler, at last. Though he probably shouldn't summon one who could end him, so omnipotent god-like beings were out. Additionally he should have someone who would want the Holy Grail War to finish just like him. And he already had one in mind. After all, birds of a feather flock together.

* * *

Now:

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

"Now that was the greatest reaction of aversion that anybody showed towards me in my whole life", Ruler said, sounding utterly amused. "And that says something. Though some did manage to get close."

"What would be your reaction, when you suddenly find out, you have two defeat more then the double amount of Servants?!" A collectives "what" echoed through the place, consisting of the voices of the first Avenger, Saber, Lancer and Berserker.

"W-What do you mean?", Avenger demanded to know, but Saver pointed around.

"Well, look what we have here! It's rather clear those guys are the new Servants!"

"You sure are informed", Ruler commented and Saver shrugged. "Well then, please let me explain it to all of you! Because of the long time the Holy Grail War took without any Servant eliminated, the failsafe of the Holy Grail activated, summoning a new set of heroes and me, Servant Ruler, as the new mediator!" Everybody original Servant turned around to face Saver.

"Wait", he said, "are you implying it's my fault!"

"Yes." Brawler.

"Tch. Of course." Archer.

"Seems like it." Berserker.

"As he said." Saber.

"Naturally." Lancer.

"It's always your fault!", Avenger declared angrily. The rest kept quiet, although some of them, especially Caster, the second Brawler and Ruler had some bemused looks on their face.

"Regardless", Ruler brought the attention back to him, "now there are two Servants of each class. That is why first, we have to change your titles when referring to each other."

"Titles?", the new Avenger asked.

"Yes! From now on, every Servant that was summoned earlier then his counterpart of the same class, will receive the suffix 'of Black' to its title, while every Servant that was summoned after his counterpart will receive the suffix 'of Red' to its title. Any questions?"

"I have one!", Saver announced. "Can't we make all the original ones red and the new one black?" Right one cue he received some dirty looks from nearly all the original Servants. "What do you have against me! I'm really serious about that!"

"And why would you like that?", Ruler wanted to know.

"Because my Master has two times 'red' in his name and I don't want to be black, while he's red… speaking of which, Caster has also a different colored Servant…" He looked towards the second Caster – or at last what he estimated to be the second Caster. It was a young boy with roman features, black messy hair and wearing a white shirt with a brown vest. The whole time he had been drawing on a piece of paper with a brush. He was further carrying a bag and at his waist a pouch with some kind of black liquid in it. Otherwise noticeable was his left hand that was covered in bandages and held the box or piece of wood – Saver couldn't tell what it was exactly – that was used to support the paper. So, he was an artist? Yep, Shakespeare. Caster. Perfect!

"Then how about this, all the original Servants get red and the new ones get black, with the exception of Caster, which we're going to do the opposite!"

"Completely unnecessary", deemed the first Archer and a lot of the assembled Servants agreed.

"Do you really not want to have the same color as me, darling?", Caster asked in a mocking tone of voice to which Saver smiled.

"Na, it's really just because of the colors", he responded. "You don't exactly help, though."

"You're mean!", Caster pouted.

"Fine", Ruler decided, sounding amused right now, "if it means so much to you, why not?"

"You should take the Grail War more seriously", the newly appointed Lancer of Black declared. "Or you won't survive long in this Holy Grail War!"

"Bad weeds grow tall!" Brawler of Red said and all who knew Saver had to agree.

"Then all it would need is a place where plants refuse to grow", Caster of Red said without stopping in his drawings.

"Are you some kind of poet?", Avenger of Black asked while chewing on a cigarette but Caster denied.

"I am just a war painter." War painter?

"Then you are free to paint my glorious triumph, when I add one more legend to the ones, I already have!", declared the Servant of Death, unsheathing his sword and holding it high into the air. "For I, Perseus, legendary slayer of dragons, summoned as Servant Saber, will without a doubt prevail over all my enemies!"

"Did this guy really just told us his true name?", Lancer of Red asked to no one in particular, but Brawler of Black answered regardless:

"Seems like it." He was smiling. "He has to be really confident to proclaim his name that easily."

"I am actually more surprised that it is a name I recognize", Saver of Red said while Rider of Black had also drew his sword.

"There will be no glorious fights", he declared in his eerie voice. "Only bloodshed and destruction!"

"Then will you be the first to challenge me?" They pointed their weapons at each other but to their surprise they couldn't make a move.

"I still wasn't finished!", Ruler reminded them that he was the one summoning them, under a non-violence restriction, mind you. Then he addressed the crowd at a whole.

"Even though there are now twenty Servants competing for the Holy Grail, there will still be only one Greater Grail to claim!" The Servants stiffened. Yes, that was true. Now they had to defeat nineteen Servants, if they wanted to have there wish fulfilled instead of the original six. That clearly was messed up. At last Ruler didn't seem to going to participate from his choice of words. Of course some of them seemed to be thrilled by the idea of fights, especially Assassin and Brawler of Black. "But now every Master will have his own vessel for the Lesser Grail!" What?

"The object of the greatest importance will be turned into an object collecting all the souls of the defeated Servants! Tell your Masters this: If their vessel of the Lesser Grail is destroyed, they won't be able to claim the Holy Grail, even if they were to be the last one standing and manage to claim the vessel of another Master as there own! However, a destroyed vessel will not result in the loss of your Servant! This excludes Servants who have summoned their own Servants, as these will use the same vessel that their current Master will be using. Any questions regarding the vessel?" None voiced any, but Saver realized that Rider of Red had been eyeing Berserker of Black warily the whole time. He doubted she even listened to Ruler. Did she had something against him? Come to think of it, The **_Daily Universal Register (The Londoner Times)_** had mentioned that Rider had attacked Saber after he had killed Ryuunosuke. With blue flames. Did she had something against fire or the color blue? Or both? Unaware of Saver's thoughts, Ruler continued:

"I personally will not intervene in any fights, except to make sure that nothing disturbs the Heaven's Feel ritual, effectively taking over the rule of the supervisor. Once only one Servant – not counting me – is left, the Holy Grail will materialize and given to the winner! As long as you do not threaten the Holy Grail War, anything goes. But if you do, I personally will discard of you. Any more questions?" No one raised their voice. "Then this concludes the tutorial and I officially launch the Fourth Holy Grail War of Fuyuki City! _By the power of this Comment Seal, I order you to instantly go back to the place you were, before I had summoned you!_" At once all the assembled Servants with exception of Ruler vanished.

* * *

"Yo, Shirou, we're back!" Akage, who had searched the whole hideout together with Yuki and Cooro, quickly ran into the living room.

"I've told you, my name is Akage", he reprimanded him, "and where did you suddenly vanish to?!"

"Well, we've got a new supervisor, who wanted to tell us the new rules."

"New rules?"

"Yes…" Now Saver told his Master everything that Ruler had told them.

"And it is all his fault, by the way", Brawler added, pointing towards Saver.

"No, it is not", he denied.

"Yes, sure", said Akage, Brawler and Yuki in unison. Saver sweat-dropped.

"I think I have activated **_Aesopica (And The Moral of It Is)_** for way too long", he estimated. "I mean, the rat's picking up on sarcasm!"

"Huh? What? How?", Cooro asked confused.

"Well, at last he's still the same!"

"Wa?"

"Don't worry about it", Saver reassured the crow, "don't worry about it. But what I wanted to say is that the failsafe of the Holy Grail should not yet have been activated! Not automatically at last!" Brawler looked at him puzzled.

"What do you mean?", she wanted to know.

"It hadn't even been twenty-one days and no Team had reached a head count of over four Servants at a time! So it shouldn't activate yet by itself!" Brawler and Akage were taken aback, the latter showing it more clearly.

"Ruler didn't said, how the failsafe can be activated", Brawler pointed out. "So, how would you know?" Saver froze.

"Well, damn, busted."

"Saver…", Akage addressed his Servant in the most dangerous voice he could muster – not that that meant anything by a mentally seven-year old. Cooro, of course, had no clue whatsoever.

"Hey, what's the problem?", he asked, looking from one to the other.

"Well", Saver began, "this might not have been my first Heaven's Feel…"

"You have been summoned before?!", Akage exclaimed surprised.

"Well, maybe~ It's definitely one possibility. Why don't you try and figure it out~" That made his Master angry.

"Why don't you tell us?!", he demanded to know.

"Where's the fun in that?!" While Akage looked completely out of it, not knowing how to respond, Brawler just nodded.

"Challenge accepted", she declared quietly but firm, which made Saver sweat a bit.

'Maybe I shouldn't have done that', he mused. 'I've got a bad feeling about this!' To occupy his mind with something different, he asked his Master:

"So, Shirou, you've got any idea what's your vessel?"

"My name is Akage!"

"Whatever."

"Ugh…"

"So, any idea?" Akage thought about it.

"No", he finally admitted, "I really don't have any idea what my personal vessel for the Holy Grail is supposed to be…"

"It has to be something you hold very dear", Saver reminded him.

"Maybe something from your girlfriend", Brawler suggested and right one cue his face started to blush.

"Rin's not my girlfriend!", he utterly denied while Brawler stayed completely expressionless.

"I haven't mentioned Rin at all", she deadpanned. Silence fell upon their little group, as Akage just started at her frozen. For a second nothing happened. Cooro whispered to Yuki pleading:

"Please tell me, you didn't understand that, neither!"

"It's a human thing!", the rat reassured him, as Akage started to sprout a very deep shade of red on his face.

"Wa-wa-wa-wa-I-I-I-we-we-we…", Akage started to splutter and it didn't looked like he was about to stop soon. Saver turned towards his Servant chuckling.

"You know, sometimes I wonder if you are the one with the 'evil' alignment", he told her bluntly. "Or are you perhaps, 'pure chaotic'?"

"No, that's Izayoi. I am… chaotic good."

"Is that so?" He didn't went further into the subject and instead drew a rune into the air. At once a gush of cold water shot into Akage's face, drenching him.

"What was that for?!", he demanded to know.

"Well, you were so out of it, I thought, I should get you back."

"But now I am going to have to change my clothes!"

"Not really." Saver drew a line of runes and Akage was again dried up. "So, the vessel is supposedly the object you have the greatest emotional attachment to, so what would that be in your case, Shirou?"

"My name is Akage!"

"Please concentrate."

"How am I supposed to concentrate, when you upset me on purpose?!"

"Just do it!" The smile on his face betrayed him, though.

"Ugh!" Akage gave up and really tried to concentrate on the matter at hand. After all, it wasn't like he could make the Servant call him properly. Not yet, anyway. But what had been his condition? Survive the Heaven's Feel! Akage had no illusions, about fulfilling the conditions of the other three, but his he would definitely do! And at the end of the Holy Grail War, he would make Saver call him Akage! So he kept quiet for now and thought about, what his vessel was.

Saver sighed when Akage didn't answer and looked over to Brawler. Nope, no movements there. Let's see... what exactly was suited for a vessel?

"Oi, Shirou!"

"I am Akage!"

"Whatever. Is there by any chance an object you have never taken off once after receiving – except sleep obviously." Akage thought for a moment. And then got red again. Now Saver became curious.

"Oh? So there is one, don't say, you really have something from a girlfriend…"

"It's from my sister!", Akage quickly interrupted. "It's a tufting strap that she made…"

"I wanna see", Brawler announced and Akage unconsciously touched his left upper arm.

"W-Welll, that is…"

"Me, too, me, too!", Cooro added and Akage grew an even deeper shade of red.

"No!", he firmly stated, hoping that they would drop the issue. "Absolutely not!"

"Oi, Master, could it be, it is something really embarrassing?" Akage winced.

"Oho? Well, now I want to see it. **_Regulae ad directionem ingenii (36 Rules for the Direction of the Mind)_**_. Before you stand up from this table, you have to roll up your left sleeve once._" Akage stared at Saver dumbfounded.

"W-What did you?!", he demanded to know.

"I just made it so that before one of us can stand up, he has to roll up his left sleeve first", the irregular Servant explained. "It's really an interesting Noble Phantasm, but relatively useless in a fight as I have to uphold the same conditions, I set for my opponent. And I can't make too strong conditions. An advantage is though that it holds for our whole life, so if we want to destroy the enchantment, we need both mine and your consent. But I won't give mine until I have seen, what you are trying so badly to hide. So, how is it, _Master_?"

"Saver", Akage whimpered, but submitted to the Servant's will with a completely red head. The strap in question was pink in color with red hearts all over it.

"It's cute", Brawler honestly stated her opinion, while Saver himself was cracking with laughter.

"You sure have an interesting taste", he made fun of his Master.

"Can't we get back to the important topics?", Akage asked, trying to save what he could of his dignity. "We do have to defeat ten more Servants, right?!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

There is not much to say about this chapter. I'll apologize, it's so short but it's just the last of set-ups before the second round starts. However, those are necessary for the overall plot so please bear with me. Also please remember to tell me, if you manage to notice a mistake or disagree with something.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	25. Chapter 24: This Madness

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Sorry, I had to delete the previous version of this chapter. I hope I didn't inconvenience anyone.

Thank you for your review, coronadomontes.

The user **Mirakura** just made me aware of the fact that there are indeed information about what happened to Shirou's element and origin. It is said that they changed thanks to him having Avalon inside him for many years. But since Saver already knows what he can do with an element and origin of "Sword" and has some interesting objects in his possession, Akage will still end up with an element and origin of "Sword". He just won't have it naturally.

Chapter 24: This Madness

Now it finally was time. Ruler had announced the beginning of the war, all their preparations ready. Now no one would stand in his way of getting revenge. Being killed by that damn Lancer was bad enough, but then Death had told him that Lancer was getting rewarded for his death?! Unforgivable! He would make sure to completely annihilate the Knight of the Lance! As soon as he was inside he let Berserker of Black materialize himself. War could still remember clearly what happened directly after the summoning.

_*/flashback/*_

Death's Servant turned around to face War's, drawing his sword in the process. Berserker roared and materialized one katana of his own in response. The blue flames around him intensified.

"Oh, can we fight already?", Pest's Servant asked eagerly, taking out a revolver.

"Berserker, stay down", War ordered and Pest did the same with his one.

"You can fight later one", he promised.

"Wait", Death told his Servant, "let us first discuss our plans before you kill each other!"

"I am afraid, I cannot do that", the white-clad Servant replied. "It is a heroes duty to slay monsters that cross their paths with him!" As he had not taken down his sword, it became impossible to restrain Berserker any longer – without the use of a Command Seal at last. Roaring the mad Servant raised his sword and charged at the one he viewed as his enemy. With a smug smile he awaited him, only for Lancer to suddenly appear between them, intercepting Berserker and together with him vanished into one of his black portals. Surprise showed clearly on the faces of all present. Death's Servant turned around to face the dead apostle.

"Why did you interfere with my duty?", he demanded to know.

"Look", Death tried to reason, "we are brothers and we all have the same wish. So we planned to fight together, until all of our enemies are defeated. Then you can fight against each other to sort out, which one of you will have their wish fulfilled. So for now, please do not fight against each other."

"I said it before, this is going to be impossible. But since you did not understand the reason, I'll clarify. I was not referring to my desire as a Servant to win the Holy Grail. I was referring to the duty to slay monsters as a hero. A duty dedicated by my karmic nature. I shall not leave a monster roaming around. I, Perseus, the Dragon-slaying hero, will defeat the beast!" War began to sweat. Even he knew that discrepancies this early would weaken them greatly, regardless of which Servant would win their fight. Luckily Death had always been a quick thinker.

"But do heroes not sometimes enslave the monsters they defeat and use them to fight for their enemies? If my memory serves me correctly, even you, Perseus, used the head of the slain Medusa to petrify your enemies? Having one alive under your complete control is not that different!"

"You speak with wisdom", the newly identified Perseus acknowledged. "Very well. I will refrain from defeating the demon, on that it will support me in my heroic exploits!" Death nodded once while looking to Famine and he sent a mental message towards his Servant. Soon Lancer and Berserker turned up again and at once War told his own Servant to stay down. This time he obeyed.

_*/flashback end/*_

With Berserker of Black in front of him War made his way up the stairs. His Servant had already drawn his sword and with a roar charged through the door. What greeted them where slowly moving corpses that seemed to have been human once before. But one strike with his sword and he made short work out of them. In the next room there were two axe wielding suits of armors, but they also stood no chance. Afterwards he had to fight against some girls with devil wings, some giant wolfs, some red mixtures between fish and man, some dancing ghosts – who for some reason or another ignored them completely even as Berserker cut down their numbers, some tomb stones, some giant slugs, some harpies, some worms, some bats, a giant eye with a tail made out of stone, a mad clown, a skeleton snake on the wall spewing flames and a lot more different kind of monsters, but Berserker of Black wasn't even slowed down in the slightest. However…

"Come and show yourself already", shouted War enraged. This was getting ridiculous! Where was that damn Lancer of Red?! Or even Berserker of Red?! Seriously, why didn't that damn Berserker already attacked?! Why was he hiding?! And why didn't the Master summoned something that proofed a challenge?! Why did he had to smash all those weaklings?! Heck, most of them he could probably defeat even without the help of his Servant. When now a bunch of children-sized fairy-looking things attacked, he lost his composure.

"Stay back, Berserker", he shouted and called upon his axe. Then he rushed at the foes. As if he was the Berserker he cut down the familiars or whatever they were, while roaring madly. One, two, three, four, five, six slashes and the room was empty again.

"Where are you?!", he shouted, raising his head towards the ceiling. But his voice got caught in his throat when he noticed that his earlier statement about an empty room had not been that correct. At the ceiling there was a giant head made out of wood with four arms. In one of them it held something like a white human-like figure. And why was it putting it in some sort of iron maiden? Suddenly everything went black and he felt an agonizing pain, as if thousand of spears impaled him simultaneously.

* * *

"▀█▀▄█▀█▄█▀██▀"

Berserker of Black roared loudly, when suddenly War vanished and his connection to his Master was cut off short. Without someone to guide him, the mad Servant thrashed at the first thing he saw: the giant head. In a burst of explosion blue flames shot out from him to all his surroundings. Using the flames as a drive he propelled himself upwards towards the giant head, slashing it with his katana and incinerating it with his flames. Within seconds the creature was no more. But the Berserker didn't stopped there. He crashed through the next door and attacked the inhabitants of the next room: three purple, upright standing, over-sized boars.

"▄▀▀▄▀▄▄█▀" The first was cut down before they even noticed the threat. The second turned around just in time to see the bringer of its demise, while the last one actually manage to spew a fireball at the intruder. But the little flame couldn't compare to the raging fires of hell soaring around the demonic beast and the same could be said about its manufacturer, who was slain just a moment later. Berserker of Black took a moment to stay and roared at the ceiling, but he was not satisfied, as soon enough he made his way through another door, destroying it in the process. The next room was completely empty, except for one figure standing on the opposite site of the room.

"You're quiet loud", it said. "But I guess, I shouldn't be the one pointing fingers, right?" Leisurely his giant kitchen-knife-like sword over his shoulder, Berserker of Red talked to his opponent.

"▀█▀▄▀██" Berserker of Black roared again and charged forward. Steel met steel and sparks flew as they both tried to push the other back.

"█▀██▄▀█▀█" Suddenly the flames around Berserker of Black intensified again and shot towards Berserker of Red. He had to jump back to avoid getting fried and his opponent used this opportunity to push forward. Berserker of Red had to retreat further, but from the very beginning he had stood to close to the wall, so there was not much room to retreat.

So, he applied what he learned in his fight against Saver, jumped, set his feet onto the wall and retreated further upwards. Berserker of Black's slash missed and Berserker of Red followed up with a strike from above that the former only managed to duck just in time and retaliate with a thrust up, which Berserker of Red easily sidestepped. However, blue flames shout out from the blade and spread out in a wave. He jumped away and did a roll in the air while he was at it. Then he quickly turned around to block the next strike which Berserker of Black delivered without pause.

Although the demonic beast didn't had **Air Dance** like him, he still was able to jump up to reach him. And then there were the flames that continuously sprouted from him. Even though he didn't knew anything about those blue flames, he did knew about that skill. It was, after all, the same that he had: **Prana Burst**, the explosive outburst of your prana. But their application of it was different. While usually someone clothed himself in pure prana and expelled it like a jet burst to increase his strength and speed, Berserker of Black on the other hand infused his prana with those special flames and spread it out as a means of attack, forcing him to get out-of-the-way as quickly as possible.

Usually he was the kind of guy that would rush straight into a fight, giving all that he got, to defeat his opponent. However, this time he couldn't do that. Every time a Servant fought, he used up prana, but the regeneration was always a lot slower. So they ended up using prana from their Masters, who, even though the actual amount was less, they had a faster regeneration. But, as they had estimated, his Master was different. So, when he fought, he had to use up as less prana as possible. Actually, it would have been better to leave the fighting to Lancer but the Knight of the Lance was not suited to fight that kind of opponent head-on. And since Berserker of Black didn't showed any signs of slowing down, they could not just let the monsters deal with him.

That was why he was currently evading all of his opponents attacks, hoping that he would exhaust all his prana and since the Master had been finished off, losing everything that would bound him to this world, before someone else decided to make a new contract with the mad Servant. Granted, they could try that, too – Sola-Ui had not a Servant, yet, after all – but they still had to have the consent of the Servant, before a new contract could be formed. And right now, Berserker of Black most likely wouldn't make a contract with someone that had killed of his previous Master. Berserkers were berserk, after all. At last that went for anybody that hadn't had a meeting with that so called Saver. Speaking of, meeting that guy would probably be really good for the opponent in front of him.

Still… Berserker of Black was holding out way too long for a Servant with no Master or **Independent Action** that wasted his prana without care. Right now, he was even engulfing the whole room into a sea of blue flames. Berserker of Red clicked his tongue in annoyance. He couldn't dodge that and since it was not moving in a straight line, he could not just cut it with his sword. So he had to do, what he avoided to do the whole time: activate his own **Prana Burst**. Dense enough to be visible to the naked eye, Berserker of Red shrouded himself in an armor of prana, pushing away the blue flames around him. But that was not all. He didn't wanted to waste any of it, so he tried something out. He used the prana that now surrounded him, gathered it and concentrated it into his blade. Before Berserker of Black could activate his own again, he brought down his sword.

"**_Getsuga Tenshou (The Light that Pierces the Heaven)_**!" A bright wave of light made its way over to Berserker of Black, cutting through all the flames. But before it could reach him, he suddenly vanished and Berserker of Red cut through empty space. And the walls behind that. Warily he looked around himself trying to sense his enemy. That was one of the things that were new for him. Compared to all his friends from before the summoning his sensing downright sucked. But every Servant had the inherit skill to sense the presence of other Servants – except Assassin for obvious reasons.

So, either Berserker of Black had somehow the ability **Presence Concealment** or he was not here anymore. Well, it could be a stealth-type Noble Phantasm like Saber's, but he didn't looked sane enough to have something like that. His suspicions were confirmed, when he saw Lancer walking into the room through on of the doors. Interestingly to note, it was not the same he had used.

"So, Berserker is really gone", he asked and the Knight of the Lance answered in the affirmative. It had been no empty boast, when he declared that even Assassin wouldn't be able to walk in this castle undetected.

"But how could he escape?", Berserker wondered. Lancer shrugged.

"The more important question is, how could _he_ get inside!" With that he pointed at the figure, sitting in the corner if the room, drawing on a sheet of paper. Lancer and Berserker had recognized him at once. It was the self-proclaimed war painter from Ruler's summoning of the Servants. Sometime in the fight between the two Berserker he had just shown up and quietly drew pictures, not getting hit once. Now he finished the last touch and began to pack his equipment.

"Oi, are you going to fight, too?", Berserker of Red shouted but the war painter shook his head.

"I only draw", he declared and proceeded to walk out of the room.

"So, we are letting him go?", Berserker asked Lancer, who nodded.

"He moved past all of my monsters and traps without problems and still didn't decided to attack us. Right now we still don't know enough about him to risk a confrontation, yet. For now let's get back to our Masters." He indicated for the not-mad Servant to follow him.

On the other site of the door was another room the same size as all the others, however, there were no monsters and it had a lot more interior decoration. It had a big table, some chairs and a palatial couch. On the wall hang an insane amount of paintings – or one would think of them as paintings, until some of the pictures moved. Indeed, the paintings were not paintings, but his substitution for surveillance cameras. He used a monster called "Peeping Eye" to look through his castle and even though he could sent the images they saw directly into his brain, after ten he had decided to create these paintings as "screens" instead. One of them showed the room they just had been while another one was completely black.

"What happened to Berserker of Black?", Kayneth got straight to the point and Lancer shrugged anew.

"Vanished. Maybe he got called back by his Master."

"You mean that guy your puppet killed?", Berserker asked surprised.

"If that really was his Master. Besides, someone who could revive once, can revive again. We were supposed to get a reward for killing him, remember?"

"That is true", Kayneth admitted, "So are we going to have to anticipate another attack from Berserker of Black and the fake Sakoshimo.

"Maybe", Lancer conceded and Kariya declared:

"When he does, we'll kill him!"

"I doubt it will be that easy, but on the other hand I don't think, they are going to try again soon."

"What makes you say that, Lancer?", Sola-Ui asked him.

"Well, even though they managed to destroy my "Puppet Master", it came for the price of one Command Seal. Regardless who Berserker's true Master is, this is a big set-back for anybody who is allied with him! This said, there is nothing to keep us from finishing our game. Right, Master?"

"Indeed." Before Berserker of Black's rude interrupting, they had been playing chess against each other and they still had to finish.

"You know", Lancer mused, surveying the chess board with slight confusion, "didn't that rook stood on field to the right beforehand?"

"I am pretty sure you had been occupied with other things than a simple game of chess", his Master replied without batting an eye. Lancer smiled.

"Well, looks like someone is taking my lessons to heart", he said, sounding proud. "Let's see, how good that is going to be for you!"

* * *

A little bit earlier:

"I think it is time!", Death mused. He cut himself into the finger and some of his blood fell to the ground. At once it started to accumulate and soon enough War stood in front of him.

"I must say, that's a need trick", Archer of Black admitted and the others had to agree with him.

"You died, again", Death greeted his brother, who became angry at this words.

"It's not my fault!", he raged. "If this damn Lancer would come out and show himself like a man…"

"For now use a Command Seal and summon Berserker", Death interrupted him. "We might be able to call you back from the dead and it looks like our contracts would still function even when we are killed, but I doubt we will have the same privilege with the Servants, all right?!" Grumpily War obeyed his brother's order.

"_By the power of this Command Seal I, War, red horseman of the apocalypse, order you, Berserker, to come forward!_" At once the Command Seal produced a rift in space and through this Berserker of Black appeared. As soon as he showed up, War told him to turn into spirit form, to lessen the burden on himself. He had just revived, after all.

"So", Death now said, "from what I have gathered, you've decided to go on your own to the Kayneth residence and got yourself killed. Is that right, so far?!"

"This guy was supposed to receive a reward for killing me", War shouted. "I couldn't just take that lying down!"

"That's right!", Archer agreed. "If that happened to me, I would make them pay!"

"It was reckless", Lancer butted in, "behavior like that can endanger the whole mission." Archer snorted.

"You are just saying that, because you are too scared to fight", he proclaimed. "Hell, you aren't even showing your face!"

"I will hide my identity, as long as I deem it necessary", he proclaimed.

"That is not something a hero would do!", Saber claimed. "A hero will proudly announce his name, so that all people will know him and worship his exploits!"

"I never claimed to be a hero", Lancer responded. "I have only one goal and everything else is insignificant."

"Back on topic", Death interrupted their quarrel. "War, what can you tell me about Lancer and Berserker of Red?"

"They didn't showed up at all!", he raged. "They just kept sending monster after monster!"

"And which one did you in?", Famine inquired.

"None!", he responded. "Just from one moment to another I've been dead. Just like that!"

"This is worrisome", Lancer commented. "If even the place itself is hazardous for your health one would not be able to attack them in their home without any protections. However, it will serve as a great advantage for the one, managing to overcome this weakness."

"Do you really have no memories of your demise?", Pestilence asked skeptically. "Those curses… aren't those the type… that weakens one the more… one is exposed to them? If it really was that quick… shouldn't you have died upon entering?"

"He is right", Lancer agreed, "Even normal people can walk through the 'Realm of Darkness' for a short time without succumbing to it. Have you really told us everything you know?"

"What was the last thing you remember?", Death asked quickly, before War could make a snarling comment towards the Knight of the Lance.

"Well, I was getting fed up with all those monsters, which even I could defeat that I had decided to kill a bunch of fairy-looking things myself. And then there was this giant head with four arms and some white doll… and then only pain."

"A doll…", Death mused, before suddenly having an idea. "Did he did something with that doll?"

"Huh? Well, he put it – in – an – iron – maiden." The last words he said slower, as realization dawned upon him. "Wait! You don't mean, voodoo?! Such high level…"

"It is possible", Death conceded. "Lancer of Red has already been shown to be capable of switching his place with a wooden doll in his fight against Rider of Red."

"Fucking great", War responded. "So, how are we going to kill that thing?!"

"For now, we won't", he objected. "Let someone else deal with him first. He might have even more dangerous monster hidden in their residence. It would be unwise to engage him right now."

"What?!", Archer shouted. "I want to fight, already! You can't keep us inside this shit hole the whole time!"

"We have the special opportunity to gain information on the enemies without any risk involved, as long as we only sent the Masters. That's why it would be unwise to sent the Servants." Archer snorted.

"Oh, really?!", he sneered. "You are so weak, I doubt you will make them even think about using their Noble Phantasm!" Silence fell upon the assembled.

"He is not wrong", Lancer conceded, "compared to a Servant you are rather weak. If we want to find out their strengths and weaknesses, you will not be enough." Death pondered about that.

"Okay", he agreed. "I will let you fight." One could see Archer smiling, if it hadn't been for the mask he was wearing.

"Who is it?", he asked eagerly. "Is it Archer of Red?!" For some reason or another Archer of Black had a strong obsession with his red counterpart. When they had asked him why, he just answered: "There can only be one Archer!" But Death had to disappoint the Knight of the Bow.

"No", he answered and looked through a map that they had filled with information on the Servants, "thanks to Saver we already know the name of his Noble Phantasm and even its full effects and origin. But there are other opponents which we have no information whatsoever about: Brawler, Assassin, Rider, Saver, Caster and Avenger of Black. However, there are only two we know the whereabouts: Assassin and Rider. Servants of Matou Zouken and Jubstacheit von Einzbern, both representatives of the founder families."

"What do we know about them?", Lancer asked and Death flicked through the documents.

"Well, Matou Zouken…" Death stopped.

"Famine…", he turned towards his brother. "Did I not told you to get me the information on all Servants and Masters?!"

"B-but they are the Masters!", the dead apostle responded, not knowing what he did wrong.

"In a war it is important to know about all ones enemies", Lancer said. "The ones who are fighting, and the ones who are planning." Death sighed.

"Pest, Famine."

"Yes!"

"You will accompany Archer to the Matou residence and fight the inhabitants. Prepare to die. Lancer, you will serve as a back-up and when things look sour, you will make sure Archer makes it out alive.

"Ey", Archer interrupted, but Death placated him, by telling him, it was just in case.

"Saber", he turned towards his own Servant, "I would recommend for you to stay at home this time. We can not leave War and Berserker here alone, now that they are weakened and I will have to gather some information on the opponent Masters. Besides, it would be good to have at last one Servant, the enemy knows nothing about, especially, since you are one of our strongest fighters."

"Very well", Saber agreed. "I will keep watch over your brother and wait until the right time to show them the true power of the dragon slayer, Perseus!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Even though War dies in this chapter, the Command Seals for Berserker don't vanish. This had less to do with the fact that he is a dead apostle and more with the fact that Angra Mainyu knows, he is going to come back again. And for a short amount of time even Berserker can fight without a Master.

Though should someone try to make a contract with one of the Servants of these dead apostles, while the Master is temporary dead, the Servant can accept.

And Berserker of Red really has to fight economically. So, he ends up thinking a lot more in his fights than usual. Luckily his opponent right now is not going to (able to) exploit that.

Kayneth is also slowly getting more pragmatic when dealing with his enemies. Right now it is just for mundane uses, but maybe we can see him fighting like that in the future…

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: Berserker of Black**

Master: War

True Name:

Sex: male

Strength: A

Endurance: A

Agility: B

Mana: A+

Luck: C

Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Mad Enhancement: B

Rank up for all parameters, but takes away most of sanity.

Skills

Prana Burst (Flames): A

is a version of _Prana Burst_ that infuses weapons with prana that imparts a flame effect.

Instinct: B

is the power to "feel" the most favorable developments for oneself during battle.

Monstrous Strength: C

is an ability possessed by monsters and beasts, temporary boost of the _Strength_ parameter by one rank for a time limit determined by the ranking of this skill.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1_**

Rank: A; Anti-Unit/Anti-Army/Anti-Spirit; Range: 25; Targets: 666 people

Blue Flames that can damage the physical as well as the spiritual. They are able to hurt a Heroic Spirit even in Spirit Form.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: Berserker of Red**

Master: Matou Kariya

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: A+

Endurance: A+

Agility: A+

Mana: A

Luck: A

Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Mad Enhancement: X

Lost because of an opponent's Noble Phantasm.

Skills

Battle Continuation: A

Makes possible to fight even with deadly injuries and can remain alive so long as one does not receive a decisive fatal wound.

Hidden Visibility: D

It is impossible for anybody without Magic Circuits or psychic ability to see this Servant.

Air Dance: A

A skill that allows for running across the air as if it was solid ground.

Berserker is able to stand in mid-air, regardless of the direction he is facing.

Prana Burst: A

is the increase in performance caused by infusing one's weapons and body with magical energy and instantly expelling it.

A normal weapon that is not on the level of a divine mystery can be destroyed in one blow. Raises defense in several times.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1_**

Rang: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-2; Targets: 1 person

**Getsuga Tenshō: The Light that Pierces the Heaven**

Rang: B~A++; Anti-Gate/Anti-Fortress/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-99; Targets: 1000 people

Gathers a lot of prana into a the blade and releases it in one single wave. The strength of the attack depends on the amount of prana previously gathered.


	26. Chapter 25: Killer and Victim

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, Taromaru, Zarbapha and coronadomontes! Since there is at last one person that has trouble remembering all the Servants, here is a short summary of every Servant and their name, if it had been revealed. So, whenever you want you can go back to this chapter and brush up your memory.

Saber of Red: Nura Rikuo, Grandson of Nurarihyon

Lancer of Red: the Reincarnation of Dracula with the skill **Double Summon**

Archer of Red: an albino with crutch and vector manipulation

Rider of Red: a demon on two wheels having a Reality Marble filled with broken toys

Caster of Red: a roman war painter

Assassin of Red: a shinobi using bugs

Berserker of Red: Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Shinigami

Brawler of Red: Kasukabe You holding the Genome Tree

Avenger of Red: Merry Nightmare, a demon without a Reality Marble

Saver of Red: Fake-Kotomine Shirou using supernatural books

Saber of Black: Perseus, Legendary Slayer of Dragons

Lancer of Black: a black-cloaked schemer able to venture into a different dimension

Archer of Black: a cowboy hiding his face behind a bird peak mask

Rider of Black: a black knight without any visible body under his helmet

Caster of Black: a magi using **Body Possession**, arrow plates and _**Black Blood**_

Assassin of Black: a maniac with a third eye wearing headphones

Berserker of Black: a demonic figure clad in blue flames

Brawler of Black: a gentleman with curved eyebrows and goatee

Avenger of Black: a woman wearing second-hand clothing with a nicotine addiction

Saver of Black: an angelic figure proclaiming to be the savior of the world

Ruler: a radiant knight in red armor

* * *

Chapter 25:Killer and Victim

"So, this is it?", Pestilence mused, as he looked at the Matou residence. If you ignored the street lamps, the illuminated windows were the only source of light at the moment.

"Looks better than ours", Famine commented and walked onto the property.

"Be careful", Pest reminded him, "they have an Assassin!"

"Don't worry! I won't die just like that!" Right on cue Famine noticed a blur coming towards him and he managed just in time to transform part of his hair into two blades, to block the katar aiming at his head.

"Oho, you survived that?", Assassin of Black said with sadistic glee. "That makes me really happy, happy." Archer of Black took out a colt and shot a beam of energy towards the Silent Killer. Assassin jumped to the side and avoided it. Before Archer could shoot again, Famine stopped him.

"I will deal with him!", he declared. "We need you to face Rider!"

"Te, that's true", Archer admitted. "Then we'll be going on ahead."

"I stay here", Pest determined, but Famine shook the head. We need you in case of unforeseen consequences." Pest didn't wanted to leave his brother behind, but as Death had told them, prepare to die. This didn't just meant that the enemy is so dangerous that they would die, it meant that they should fight until they died to get most information with least costs. The only ones to make it back alive would be Archer and Lancer, the latter being able to escape nearly all situations. So he had to stick with Archer.

"Be careful", Pest told his brother and went further ahead without being stopped by Assassin. As they were away, the Servant addressed the Master:

"You do not care if you are to die… as long as Archer survives, is that what you are thinking?!" Famine stopped dead in his tracks. How did he knew that?! No way! It couldn't possible be…

"Bingo", Assassin continued. "My Noble Phantasm **_Spectator (The Eye of Five Visions)_** allows me the "Insight" into my opponents thoughts by interpreting your facial expression, body language and stuff like that. Think of it as an extreme form of observation." Famine was taken aback. Did that guy just told him the name of his Noble Phantasm and what it's effect were?! Assassin smiled.

"You think, why would I reveal my Noble Phantasm to you?! The answer is simple: I like to talk!" Wait! For real?!

"Yes, talking is after all, my hobby! And no, it is not because of my skill **Evaporation of Sanity** like you are thinking. In fact my skill **Evaporation of Sanity** comes from my desire to talk. So, now that I have told you some things about me, how about a game: If I get one question about you right, you will let yourself behead by me?!"

"Are you serious?! Well, but if you are wrong, you will have to tell me your true name!"

"Gladly, even if you are so focused on not keeping your end of the bargain! But if you want to know my name, I will gladly tell you! Please call me Zank, the Beheader! Now you are thinking that I only told you the name, because there are no legends about me. But you are wrong! After all, how can a serial killer get the recognition he deserves, if he doesn't tell his name?! And now you are thinking that the conversation has went on long enough and that we should finally go at it, right?!"

Assassin charged at the dead apostle and using one of his katars, delivered a direct swipe to the neck. Famine brought up one of his own blades to block the attack. And then…

"You are using your second blade to thrust at my abdomen, before dislodging the first and spin around to aim for my side. Then you are sending a wild roar of attacks without consciously aiming, hoping to disable my ability that way, before turning your hair into some blades and try to skewer me with them." Assassin jumped to a save distance and smiled at Famine. "Was that what you were thinking?!"

"Ugh!", Famine groaned and suppressed the instinct to clutch to his side. Even while talking and fighting simultaneously, Assassin still managed to wound him without taking even one scratch in return. Even turning his hair into a weapon had been foreseen. To defeat this guy you had stop thinking and fight with only your instincts or be too fast for him to react. However, he was capable of neither.

"There is one thing I do not understand", Assassin admitted. "You are only fighting with me, to gain information about my abilities. But now that you know it is helpless, you still make no move to run away. You do not think you will survive and you don't count on a hidden witness or a familiar to rely all information, but you are still convinced, you will be able to tell your friends about my abilities. That is a contradiction I cannot understand… Ah, I see! So, you are immortal, now that explains everything. In this case I will look forward to see, how much beheadings you will survive!"

Assassin charged forward and Famine commanded his hair-blades, to intercept the Servant. But it was no use. Capable of reading his thoughts, Assassin knew exactly where the blades would strike and could parry or dodge them without slowing down. What's more, Assassin was now way faster than he had been at the beginning of their fight.

"It seemed he had been playing around all this time", Assassin finished his thought while using his katar to cut off Famine's head from his shoulders. "Is that what you are thinking?" As Famine's head hit the ground, it turned into a bundle of hair, together with the rest of his body.

"Happy, happy", Assassin said, even though the dead apostle was not around to hear it any more, "I'll really look forward killing you the next time!"

* * *

After leaving Famine behind and venturing into the mansion they were greeted by an unusual sight. It was a woman in old-looking clothes, chewing on a cigarette, using a broom to clean the entry hall. That was not what was surprising. But Pest recognized her from Archer's stories about Ruler's summoning of all Servants. She was a Servant and she was cleaning the house. Servants were summoned to fight for the Holy Grail, not for cleaning and dusting! When the Servant noticed them she stopped in her activity, before looking back and shouting:

"Oj, Master, you have visitors!"

"What do you mean, visitors?", Byakuya asked, before his gaze fell upon the newcomers.

"What are you doing, stupid Avenger", he shouted enraged. "You cannot let the opponent just walk into house just like that!" Archer used this opportunity to aim his revolver at the Master and shot an energy beam at him. But instead of taking the Master by surprise and hit him dead centre, it was stopped by Avenger, who jumped into the way and protectively held the broom in front of her.

"What a rude bunch", she commented. Pest couldn't believe his eyes.

"A-an angel?!", Byakuya stuttered. That was right. In front of them, Avenger had changed. Now there was a white halo above her head and two small ash-gray wings on her back. Avenger risked a small glance backwards.

"Oh, my wings are back", she exclaimed. "and it didn't even hurt. I am so glad. I was so worried, when they hadn't shown up. I really don't want to go through that again!

"Her broom is still intact", noticed Archer. His attacks should be strong enough to destroy walls, so why was a broom still intact? It couldn't be…was that _broom_ her Noble Phantasm?!

"So… Avenger…", Pest mused.

"Yes", Avenger confirmed, "Avenger of Black is the title given to me by the Holy Grail and Ruler. And the Servant over there is Archer of Black, right?" Pest nodded.

"Archer", he told his Servant, "please continue without me towards Rider."

"Huh? Why?! I want to kill that guy!" Pestilence looked at Avenger.

"Because of… personal issues", he told his Servant, "my brothers… both fought against Servants and were defeated… Avenger is the weakest class… I want to know, if it is even possible for a Master… to defeat a Servant on their own."

"Te, if you want to." Archer moved past Avenger and Byakuya without even sparing them another glance.

"Oj, Avenger", her Master addressed her, "you better protect me!"

"Sure", she said, before taking out the cigarette, throwing it to the ground and putting it out with her foot. Then she rushed at the dead apostle. He turned part of his skin into a bow and arrow and let the projectile fly at her. But she had already moved to the side and was now running in an ark towards him. Pest created another arrow and this time he hit her in the shoulder. She suppressed a wince and continued. Before he could fire another arrow, she was already in front of him, swinging the broom. Pest brought up his bow and blocked the attack.

But to his surprise his bow could not stand the pressure and snapped in two, leaving the dead apostle vulnerable. He was thrown through the air, as the object met his skin. Quickly, not wanting to give him time to regain his bearing, she ran after him. He fell onto the ground when Avenger was already over him and followed up by swinging the broom with all the force she could muster. Pest rolled towards the side and the make-shift weapon crashed into the ground with a heavy sound.

When she raised it again, the dead apostle noticed that not one twig of the broom was out of place. That could only mean that, as unlikely it sounded, the broom was indeed her Noble Phantasm. And it was a melee weapon, so as someone who would use ranged weaponry, it was best for him, to widen the distance between them.

That's why he quickly created a bow and shot a barrage of arrows, all the while retreating backwards. The arrows in question were placed precisely, so that Avenger had to jump back herself, if she didn't wanted to get hit, widen the distance between themselves even further. What he didn't expected, was her to grab a vase that stood on top of a socket next to the door and throw it at him. Neither for it to suddenly explode. But as it hit the wall next to him, it didn't just shattered, but literally exploded like a grenade, sending shrapnel everywhere. A foreboding sense of unease saved Pest, but he didn't managed to get out of it unscratched. The explosion cost his right arm and right side of his face.

Damn, he had underestimated her. To hide explosives within the embellishments and then use them in a fight. That wasn't something he expected from a Heroic Spirit. But he was fighting Avenger and all of the previous summoned Heroic Spirits in this war weren't really something usual either.

Be it as it may, without his arm he wouldn't be able to shot his arrows. He estimated a time of 275 seconds before his arm would be usable again. Too long. However, it wasn't like he needed a bow in the first place. It just added a bit of speed behind his projectiles. He held out his hand towards Avenger and out of his palms shot dozens of arrows. She jumped out-of-the-way, to the other side of the door, where another socket with a vase stood.

Not letting her use the same attack on him again, he sent an arrow straight at the vase, making the dynamite inside explode… wait! Why wasn't it exploding?! This time it shattered, like any good vase was supposed to do, not exploded as if it had tempered with to be combustible.

Now Avenger reached the shards, grabbed one and threw it. Pest jumped out-of-the-way as the shard hit the wall where he stood before and exploded. So, now it explodes?! He didn't had much time to ponder about that, as she picked up some more shards and threw them. Now out of his skin literally jumped a bunch of rats, taking the shards and exploded with them. But now he noticed something he didn't noticed before: The shards were glowing before they exploded.

So that was it. "Broken Phantasm". Now that he noticed this, the Clairvoyance given to every Master provided him with all the relevant information.

**Deadly Everyday Life**. That was the name of her ability. It was a skill usually given to Heroic Spirits, who in their life had killed people using mundane objects. It allowed them to turn every object that wasn't created to kill, but was technically able to, into their own Noble Phantasm. Her Rank in this skill was C, which meant, the objects in question had to be light enough for her to carry it on her own.

However, as it wasn't practically classified, just how the object in question had to be able to kill your opponents, she could practically turn every blunt object into a Noble Phantasm. And then there was the aspect of Broken Phantasm. By overloading ones own Noble Phantasm one could sacrifice it in a one-rank-powered up attack. But usually no Servant would use it, as it would cost you your Noble Phantasm. But as she could just make new ones, it didn't mattered for her.

At last now she used up all the shards and had to attack the swarming rats with the broom in her hand.

200 seconds.

As long as he kept her away from any furniture, he could stall her for his arm to regenerate. But soon Avenger didn't wanted to play this way any more. Instead of killing one, she ducked under it and ran towards him, ignoring the rodents completely.

185 seconds.

Damn! The dead apostle turned around and ran all the while creating rats out of the skin from his shoulders and back. Avenger had to stop for a moment and whirled her broom around, destroying all of them, but giving him valuable inches in turn.

170 seconds.

Now that he knew her ability, the winner would be determined, by what happened first: Her reaching him, or his arm to grow back. It took him three seconds to reach the door, however half of the broom came flying above his head, all the while glowing and crashing into the wall above him in a dart-like manner. It exploded and he had to jump back to avoid the falling stones, which effectively blocked the way out. He turned around and shot a bunch of arrows out of the palm of his working hand, making Avenger jump out-of-the-way. He made the rats attack from all sides, accompanied by his arrows. Since she now had only a weapon half the length of before she was pressed hard to defend against the assault.

126 seconds.

"What are you doing, Avenger?!", her Master shrieked. "Hurry up and kill the intruder! Isn't it your job to protect your Master?!" For a moment Pest was inclined to take her Master out of the game right then and there, but his actual goal was to see, if a Master could beat a Servant on his own. Even if it was the weakest Servant. And by the looks of it, he didn't even had to wait for his arm to regrow. Avenger was backed into a corner and if she didn't did something soon, she would be defeated.

"Just what are you doing, you stupid woman?!", her Master shouted again. "Use your Noble Phantasm!" That's right, her Noble Phantasm. Every Servant had at last one Noble Phantasm and since **Deadly Everyday Life** was a skill she had to have at last one more trump card up her sleeve. Her Noble Phantasm was the one thing that could turn around this situation and without surviving the use of a Noble Phantasm, no matter if he managed to take it head-on or just went out-of-the-way, he could not claim that he had defeated a Servant. But Avenger said something that surprised him so much that he made all the rats stop in their tracks:

"I don't want to!" Both Byakuya and Pest were taken aback.

"What do you mean, you don't want to, you good-for-nothing woman!", her Master raged, while the dead apostle found a more calm response:

"I see… so your pride of a Heroic Spirit… won't let you use your Noble Phantasm against someone as weak as a Master, even if the Master in question is a dead apostle?"

"No, the thing you call my Noble Phantasm… is the aspect of me that I despise the most." Pest was surprised again. A Heroic Spirit who despised his own Noble Phantasm? Was that even possible?! A Noble Phantasm was the weapon, mount or ability that defined the hero. To hate ones own Noble Phantasm, one had to hate oneself! Could that be the case?

"But if you die, you won't be able to win the Holy Grail War", Pest reasoned. "So, dying without even using your Noble Phantasm… would be stupid!"

"I am no idiot", Avenger responded. "Nobody, not even my own Master, expects me to win the Holy Grail War. For them I am only a pawn to be thrown away when they have no further use for me." She had taken out a cigarette and lit it up, before putting it in her mouth and take a deep breath, even though she was still surrounded by an army of rats.

"Stop talking and use your Noble Phantasm, you stupid bitch!" Her Master was getting more agitated with the second. Understandable, since when she died, it would be reasonable for him to go after her Master next.

"Please", Pest requested, "I want to know, if I can defeat a Heroic Spirit on my own… I won't feel satisfied, if I defeat you without you using your Noble Phantasm. Please, do me this favor."

"Even if you were to die?" Pest laughed softly.

"For me, death is relative." She hesitated for a moment but seeing his resolve in his eyes, she sighed and reluctantly conceded.

"Very well." So that was it. Pest gulped. He feared to die more than anyone of his brothers, but this one thing was more important for him than a potential death!

"Usually I would introduce myself as Kirainakuuki Fuyita", he told her, "but you may call me Pest!" Avenger was perplexed.

"Thank... you?" She didn't exactly knew what to make out of the person in front of her. But then she took her act together.

"You know, I have also two names that from your point of perspective are my true name. However, one of them is also my Noble Phantasm: **_Reki (To Be Run Over and Torn Asunder)_**."

Suddenly time stood still for Pestilence. All the noise vanished, all the rats, Avenger and even her Master stood completely still. The latter's face was distorted in a grotesque way, while Avenger looked at him with the same melancholic gaze. Slowly, her ash gray feathers started to become stained with black. More and more feather took on that sick tainted color. Then around her a black shadow materialized, engulfing her in a tower made out of dark gray mud. In the center of the shadow was a round light that even though it shined brightly, it couldn't illuminate the surroundings.

The mud shifted and in a wave-like motion slowly carried the light forward, without loosing its connection around Avenger. It looked like there was a hole to a different dimension right behind Avenger from with the mud poured out.

Pest couldn't move a muscle, as the roughly-shaped mud drew closer.

Move… move! But he couldn't move. He was frozen in place like a deer in front of spotlights. Actually the shape of the mud reminded him of a truck… no a train. As he thought that, the mud had already crossed the distance and reached him, before flowing through him as if he wasn't there. But in that one moment he could feel, how his life force left his body and it became all dark.

The activation and effect of the Noble Phantasm took less than a second, but for Pest it had been like an hour. Avenger watched as the train-like mud, ran through him, before dispersing. Her opponent had no visible wounds but he collapsed like a puppet that had lost all its strings cut. The rats and arrows around her turned all back into skin and soon their owner also lost all human shape until he was only an unrecognizable pile of that human organ. Suddenly Avenger started to tremble and fell to her knees. She opened her mouth and threw up her dinner – or she would have, if she had a physical body. But that didn't stopped her from going through the motions like she had one.

"What is the matter with you now, you useless woman?!", Byakuya shouted. "Are you going to break down every time you are going to use your Noble Phantasm?!"

Avenger really would liked to have told him to shut up, but she had no strength left. She killed him. She had just killed someone! Was this Holy Grail War really the road to salvation, like it promised? Or was it just the punishment for her sins? Right now she wasn't sure anymore.

* * *

A/N:

Hi, guys and gals.

In this chapter the identities of two Servants have been revealed: Assassin and Avenger of Black. I am sorry, I couldn't let you guess them but Assassin is not someone to keep his true name secret and Avenger is really weak without revealing it.

Speaking of, don't you think there are too many abilities that describe an ill mind? Canon already has **Mental Pollution**, **Mental Disorder**, **Evaporation of Sanity** and **Mad Enhancement**. I had trouble deciding which one to give Assassin. I have decided on **Evaporation of Sanity** because he likes to talk as much as Astolfo.

Avenger of Black has to be one of my favorite Servants in this Holy Grail War. That is, because she is so similar to the original Avenger. A normal person living a normal life that is bound and destroyed by sins. Her skill **Deadly Everyday Life** shows this.

I know I said in the story that the skill **Deadly Everyday Life** comes from killing someone with a mundane object, but those who know Avenger, will know that she had never killed any person. She reason why she has this skill, is because she never had any combat training nor picked up a weapon and only lived a "normal" everyday life as a housewife, yet still managed to be summoned as a Heroic Spirit, even if she is Avenger. The reason why the original Avenger doesn't had this skill, is because he lived in the age of gods, where all human at last unconsciously knew that they might had to fight to survive.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Assassin of Black**

Master:

True Name: Zank, the Beheader

Sex: male

Strength: B

Endurance: D

Agility: A

Mana: E

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Presence Concealment: B

It is extremely difficult to be detected. Once a attack is initiated this effect vanishes.

Skills

Evaporation of Sanity: B

Reasoning is disappearing. It is impossible to keep any secrets. Has only his own goals in mind. During battle one is able to, to some extent, feel the optimal course.

Murderer of the Misty Night: D

A skill given to serial killers that permits pre-emptive strikes against opponents with a successful _Luck Check_ at night. Assassin's rank was decreased by one because he is not suited for it.

Noble Phantasm

**Spectator: Eye of Five Visions**

Rank: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Information; Range: 0; Targets: 1

An artificial third eye that gives ist carrier five visual abilities: The ability to read other peoples thoughts and four more.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Avenger of Black**

Master: Matou Byakuya

True Name: Reki

Sex: female

Strength: E

Endurance: E

Agility: E

Mana: E

Luck: E-

Noble Phantasm: C

Class Abilities

none

Skills

Deadly Everyday Life: C

Can make any object that wasn't created to kill people but is able to into a Noble Phantasm of Rank D as long as one person alone is able to carry it.

Noble Phantasm

**Reki: To Be Run Over and Torn Asunder**

Rank: C; Anti-Unit; Range: 10; Targets: 1

Summon the reflection of her sins, that rushs at the opponent and upon engulfing him destroys the connection of the soul to the body.


	27. Chapter 26: Curse of Darkness

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, coronadomontes and Zarbapha.

I have changed the name of **_Luna Break Manual (Magical All-purpose Tome of Tactics)_** to its real one **_Casa Di Logistilla (Destruction Declaration)_** and will in future refer to this Noble Phantasm with this name.

Chapter 26: Curse of Darkness

Archer of Black had left his Master behind and had searched for Rider of Black on his own. But soon he became impatient with walking through the doors and just used his gun to shot blasts of energy around him, making holes in the walls, big enough for him to walk through them.

"Show yourself already, Rider of Black!", he shouted. "Or are you afraid that I will defeat you?!"

Right then, Archer felt a presence behind them. He quickly turned around to shot an energy beam at the suddenly appeared Rider. The Servant in question couldn't react at all to his shot and so got hit dead-centre. But before Archer could make a derogatory comment, pain flew through his hand. He was forced to let go of the colt, which somehow rusted and decayed with ridiculous speed, as his hand showed signs of rotting, just the same.

"Fool", Rider of Black told the Knight of the Bow in his unforgettable voice, "no man shall defeat me!"

He unsheathed his sword and walked over to Archer, who was kneeling on the ground in pain. "Begone!"

But before he could strike him, six tornados with lightning in them appeared in front of the Servant, effectively blocking the sword. Rider widened the distance between them, as every whirlwind revealed a lance within them. They were purple-white and had a dragon-shaped blade at their heads, but the tails weren't harmless either, as they resembled sharpened crosses. Suddenly they flew through the air and surrounded a black-hooded figure: Lancer of Black.

"Retreat, Archer", he calmly told his ally, "this is no enemy you can defeat."

"Shut up!", the Knight of the Bow raged. "I am going to kill this bastard!"

"I don't care. But if he kills you, I will have to defeat one opponent less." Archer was literally growling.

"I'll remember this!", he said, to both Rider as well as Lancer, before taking off.

"You are an even greater fool than he is", Rider observed. "I told you: No man shall defeat me!"

He rushed towards Lancer, who grabbed one of the flying spears to brush the sword to the side, before it could reach him.

"I never said, I would be fighting to defeat you." He grabbed a second spear with his other hand, swiping it at his foe. To his surprise, Rider recoiled back in pain and brought distance between them. Huh? Wasn't he supposed to be impossible to defeat by man? But Lancer didn't pondered about that and was quick to use this opportunity to sent all his spears flying at the Mounted Knight. But before they could reach them a shadow appeared out of his cloak, knocking the spears away, before crashing into the ceiling and letting parts of the ceiling fell down. Lancer caught two of his spears with his hands and used them to throw away all blocks, while letting the others hover in the air around him.

"Screeeeeeeeee!" Lancer heard a shrill noise, but could not see the head of the creature as it was above the ceiling. The only thing he saw were a pair of gray dragon-like legs, which were as thick as a small tree trunk and a long serpentine tail. But that was nothing against the sense of dread, he could fell coming from it. Could it be? Did Rider's mount really was a dragon?!

Dragons were the best-known mystical creatures over the whole world and a lot of people respected them. However, even though in this age there were not many people who had ever seen a real dragon, magi still knew the terror that they represented. Dragons were extensions of Gaia and in all the three classes of Phantasmal Species they were the strongest and most dangerous in their class. No matter if they were Monstrous Beasts, Phantasmal Beasts or even Divine Beasts, no one in the same class could beat them.

As an example, Nurarihyon using all of his **_Hyakki Yakō_** could defeat some dragons of the Monstrous Beasts, and all together could maybe force a draw with a dragon of the Phantasmal Beasts, but they could never hope to march against a dragon of divine rank. No, they would be annihilated in the blink of an eye. If their opponent would even bother to fight the nuisance, that is. Yes, dragons were that powerful.

The creature shifted and made more parts of the ceiling fell down, before he heard a pair of wings flapping and the creature took of. Lancer exited the Dark Realm and flew upwards through the gigantic hole in the ceiling. In the sky above him, Rider directed his mount upwards, before turning and looking down at the Knight of the Lance.

For the first time, Lancer got a good view of the full creature. Not counting the neck and tail, its main body was at last three times the size of a human. The neck was nearly just as long and the tail even longer. The head had an extremely long beak with a row of big teeth. But was most impressive were the big, leathery wings with tattered outlines, one as large as the creature was long. But looking on the bright side, the creature didn't seemed to be a dragon, after all. More like a dinosaur.

"Screeeeeeeeee!" The creature gave off another shrill cry and its rider urged it to swoop down onto his enemy. Lancer surrounded himself with his spears and created wind-currents to make them fly around him, forming a rotating barrier, before charging himself at his foe. To his surprise however, the beast neither recoiled nor bled from his shield and instead he was the one that was sent flying from the collusion, crashing into the roof of the Matou mansion. Rider's mount following suit only moments later. Even the with mysteries reinforced floor couldn't withstand the combination of weight and speed and caved it, letting the beast drop onto the ground floor. It screeched and scrabbled in the debris, looking for Lancer. But it couldn't find him and flew up again, widen the hole in the ceiling, all the while loudly voicing its displeasure.

"Hehe. Looks like we are going to have to do some renovations", Zouken mused amused, as he watched the fight from the basement through the use of his familiars. Teaming up with Jubstacheit clearly demonstrated its first benefits. Even if he didn't defeated Lancer, he made a good first impression.

The Knight of the Lance himself was watching Rider circling around the mansion trying to find him. But Lancer was hiding in the entrance to the Dark Realm, not wanting to come out. Theoretically he could continue the fight and find out more about the abilities of his opponent, but that would give his opponents knowledge about his abilities in turn. And he still had to fight Saber of Black, after all. The Knight of the Sword was completely full of himself and in a fight between them, would most likely underestimate him.

So, why not help with that? He knew that in a fight between them, he had to get every advantage he could. Saber might seem overconfident, but a lot of this confidence was warranted, he could tell. And Death continued to keep him from fighting with the excuse of a secret weapon, so he knew nothing about his fighting style or choice of weapons, even if his proud declarations of his name gave some clues. But he didn't wanted Saber to know everything about him, while he knew nothing for sure about the Knight of the Sword.

* * *

"Tch. Oi, Volquart, you've got mail!", Archer shouted, to get the attention of the Master of the irregular Servant. He had felt a presence and when he investigated it had turned out to be a dove familiar, carrying a message. The message in question didn't came in shape of a letter, but a ruby that was attached to a ring around the right leg and emitting a high voice. At last it had until now, as it demanded to talk to Mr. Weissbach. For the moment the ring stayed silent, probably waiting for the one, it was meant for.

"What is it, Archer?" Oh, looked like his Master was first. But he already could see the other one walking out of the house.

"A message for Volquart, I think", he answered, "of course, it still could be some sort of occult bomb."

"No, its not", Volquart, who reached him together with Avenger, reassured him, "it's a message from my sister. But I am curious. Usually she would sent a letter."

An uninformed person would be giving odd looks to his black blindfold, right now, but Avenger already had seen him without it and when she asked him, why he would still wear one, both Archer and Tokiomi had learned of his interesting condition. He had been rather proud, when his efforts to study thaumaturgy in spite of his constitution, had been acknowledged by the current head of the Tohsaka family.

Regardless, Dietlinde hadn't wrote a letter, but instead decided to sent a vocal message. What caused the change?

"Miss Edelfelt, what can this humble Servant do for you, today", he asked. This triggered a response and the voice in the ring chimed:

"My dear brother, Volquart Weissbach, as a Master of the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War, I, Dietlinde Edelfelt challenge you hereby to a duel with both of our lives at stake. Meet me tomorrow at the northern end of the Fuyuki City Park at eleven o'clock in the evening. If you have any honor left, you will not turn down this invitation. Your loving sister, Dietlinde Edelfelt."

The ring exploded, the dove caught fire and quickly burned to ash in a matter of seconds. The four people silently tried to comprehend what just happened.

"It doesn't looks like you are on good terms with your sister", Archer commented dryly, the first to break the silence. This pulled Volquart himself out of his stupor:

"I can't believe it", he said, "we never liked each other… but that definitely sounded like a declaration of war. Figuratively and literally. I can't believe she became a Master…"

"What are you going to do?", Avenger wanted to know. She was nervous, maybe even a bit frightened. The words may had been polite, but this voice spoke with such a malice that one could feel it. Even if she was a Master, one could tell that she didn't cared about the Holy Grail at all. No, right now, all she wanted was to kill her brother, Avenger's Master.

"What I am going to do?", he repeated, before answering himself: "Nothing!" Avenger was taken aback.

"What do you mean?", she intrigued him to explain and so he did, while he was walking inside:

"A challenge is just that: a challenge. I am in no way compelled to accept it. Besides, what my dear sister forgot is, right now we are at war. Personal squabble has to wait. Especially as I am a member of a coalition. So, I won't be going to the Fuyuki Park tomorrow!"

"I disagree", Archer said and Tokiomi nodded approvingly. They both had the same thought.

"You have now received the future location of an enemy Master. It is best if she's taken care off."

Volquart stopped in his tracks. They wanted him to kill his sister. And since she was a Master that meant in the most effective way: Three against one. That's right. They wanted him to discard his code of honor and any feelings he had left towards his sibling and kill – no, execute her.

"Alright", he decided after a small pause. "Let us proceed in this manner. We are going to have to notify Assassin. His skills will become handy in the next fight."

* * *

"_Wir sind vier._" The samples of hair and skin on the ground grew again into Famine and Pest.

"I thought I would die", was the first thing that came out of Famine's mouth.

"You died, again", Death greeted his two brothers. "But this time it was your mission. However, before we discuss what you found out, please look at this, Pestilence."

"I don't need your fucking help, bastard!", Archer shouted enraged, before turning to Pest. "You're just a puny little Master", he mocked, "what do you think you can do against a curse created by a Servant?!"

"I have not received the name Pestilence for nothing." Reluctantly Archer let the dead apostle examine his limb. Pest grabbed it by the wrist with his left hand and whispered:

"_Komm!_" Within his mental eye the nature of the curse was displayed in every single detail.

"It's a basic but potent curse", he analyzed in a loud and firm voice that missed all of his usual bashfulness, "and interestingly has two different effects depending on the matter it hits. Inanimate objects decay even if they are made out of an indestructible material in a matter of seconds. A living target is injected with a dangerous poison, once activated, rendering the effected area unusable while sending an overload of signals to the brain, even going so far as to connect to the soul! Even cutting off the limb would not destroy this curse! Once you regenerate, it would be displaced anew. Only dying and returning to the Root seems to vanquish this curse.

Unlike most poisons however it does not spread through the body however but stays in the effected area. The activation is triggered by attacking the owner of the curse and the body-parts you hit him with, or those that were connected to the weapon, will be poisoned.

The best way to cure this is through a plant called Kingsfoil, although I have no idea, what it is." Archer snorted.

"So all that fancy speech and you can't still do a fuck against it." Suddenly Pest used his other hand to grab onto the corrupted parts of Archer's limb and again said:

"_Komm!_" Obeying his voice the poison flowed out of Archer's hand and into his. Pest flinched and held his breath as he felt the pain that previously plagued Archer.

"What the fuck?", Archer shouted and freed his hand. "Are you out of your freaking mind, Master?! Or do you think the curse will vanish, once you died again?!"

"No, however, _Ich bin der weiße Reiter_!" Now from the fingertips on the skin darkened until the whole arm up to the elbow had an unhealthy black color. Pest even rolled up his sleeve to better monitor the process. Four seconds after the first change of color, a second one appeared, also starting by the fingertips. This time it was his normal white color of an albino. Pest flexed his finger and arm muscles.

"It worked", Pest exclaimed and Death nodded.

"Very well, then let us discuss, what you found out."

"Wait!", Archer interrupted. "Are you just pretending that the thing just now didn't happened?!"

"I am curious myself", Saber admitted. "It looked like your Master did took the curse on himself and overpowered him with his own." He turned to the dead apostle. "Am I right?" Pest nodded shortly and Saber looked pleased with himself.

"It is definitely an interesting ability for a mortal magic user", he commented. "But I don't think, it should work against something on the level of a Noble Phantasm… an innate ability, perhaps?"

Further conversation was put on hold, when a black hole appeared in the middle of the room and Lancer walked out of it.

"Looks like we are all present", Death noticed. "Pest, if you would please take a look at Lancer, too…"

"Not necessary", interrupted the Knight of the Lance. "The curse does not affect me."

"How is this possible?!", War demanded to know, but it was Saber who answered:

"It is your coat, Lancer, isn't it." Lancer nodded affirmative.

"My **_Black Coat (The Coat of Darkness)_** protects me from all darkness, even curses."

"Then we can finally start to discuss our opponents." Death turned towards Pest and gave him a pen and a sheet of paper. "Please write everything down. Including a detailed report on Rider's curse." Pest nodded and he turned to Lancer.

"Since we were already talking about Rider why not continue? What else can you tell us about Rider of Black, except the curse." Lancer pondered where to start for a moment and then gave his report:

"Rider was very insistent that no 'man' can defeat him. It seems to be a Noble Phantasm that renders all attacks from people that fall under the category 'man' ineffective. That was the reason why Archer's attack did not wounded him. But with 'man' the ability does not cover 'males' but rather 'human.' As I am not a human I was able to hurt him.

Another Noble Phantasm of his is his Phantasmal Species that he is able to call on command. It looks like a mixture between a wyrm and a pterosaurs. I could not estimate, if it was of Monstrous or Phantasmal Beast level. It is capable of flight, high-speed movements and breathes contaminated air. It is able to get through my defensive barrier and so I retreated for the time being and did not stayed to gather more information."

"It is a lot of information for the first confrontation", Death acknowledged. "It will definitely come in handy later. Now regarding Assassin…"

"…his true name is Zank, the Beheader", Famine shared his experience. "His weapon of choice is a pair of katar, hidden in his sleeves and like his name suggests, he likes to decapitate his opponents. Unlike usual Assassin his main strength is not **Presence Concealment**, but his Noble Phantasm **_Spectator (The Eye of Five Visions)_** that – if I am right – is located on his forehead. It allows him to read his opponents thoughts by interpreting your facial expression and body language. He was even able to read my actions, even though I had my mask on like always. Assassin's main weakness would be his talkative mood that results in the skill **Evaporation of Sanity**. He talked during our whole fight, that bastard. He got a kick out of, telling me what I would be doing, while I was doing it!"

"Looks like there is another opponent who is going to be interesting to fight!", Saber exclaimed. "Truly, this Holy Grail War will be the perfect place for me to renew my legends!"

'Yes', Lancer realized, 'that was everything Saber cared about, wasn't it?' Lancer really despised the Knight of the Sword now – or he would if he had a heart. To be stopping others from getting their wish, just so you could brag about your strength? Such egoism shouldn't be apparent on someone called a hero. And someday Saber would stand in his way, just because of such a reason. Yes, he really should get rid of him as fast as possible. Probable in a fight against a superior opponent.

"There is something that is bothering me", Famine interrupted his musings. "Thanks to the Clairvoyance bestowed by the Holy Grail I also get the title of name of the Noble Phantasm. Ant it was **_The Eye of Five Visions_**!"

"So, what?!", War chimed in. "What's so special about that?!"

"Five", Pest said and Death nodded affirmative.

"It is called five visions. Seeing your opponents thoughts would be one. Doesn't that mean, he has four more abilities?" Famine suddenly recalled something.

"Wait! If I remember correctly, he called his ability 'Insight'! 'Sight' as in 'vision'. Yes, that settles it! He probably really has five abilities!"

"Great!", War groaned. "So what next?! Copy magic?! Bent objects? Set things aflame? Stop time?"

"For now we don't know", Death interrupted, before War could spin even more ridiculous ideas. "We are going to have to be careful when engaging him. So, putting him aside for now, there is still the one Archer told us about: Avenger of Black. So, Pest, what can you tell us about Avenger of Black?!" Pest took a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Her name is Reki", he said then, "…but she hates it… she hates being a hero, she hates her Noble Phantasm **_Reki (To Be Run Over and Torn Asunder)_**… I don't know what exactly it is. It blocked my movements and killed me with some kind of mud… train. When fighting she uses **Deadly Every Day Life**, turning the objects around her in Broken Phantasm."

"Broken Phantasm?", repeated Famine. "Wow! And I first thought you had it easy, when I heard your opponent had been Avenger of all Servants!"

"So, what is her weapon?", Death interrupted, but Pest shook his head.

"She has no personal weapon. She used a broom to fight."

"Interesting. But it seems to reason that with her ability she does not need one. Anything else of interest?"

"… she does not fly. She is like a fallen angel, longing for the sky. Knowing she will never reach it." War laughed loud out.

"Did you suddenly became a poet or what?" Pest looked sourly at his brother.

"You will know, when you see her!", he claimed.

"Regardless", Death stopped what seemed to be a sibling fight in the making, "for now he will not, as we will all stay clear of them until further notice. Remember, we do not just have to worry about the Masters and Servants! I do not think Nrvnqsr has abandoned his trail. So, until we know for certain, we will win, we will not engage our enemy!

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Even though his name wasn't revealed, yet, I think there is nearly no one, who doesn't figured out the identity of Rider of Black. He is a key-figure in one of the best known franchises, after all. As a Servant, he is definitively one of the most powerful of the additionally summoned. He is like Achilles. Depending on the opponents summoned, there might be no one to stop him. As it appears, Lancer would be able to.

Speaking of Lancer, for all those, who know the franchise Lancer is part of, should also recognize him, as his weapon of choice combined with his abilities and appearance are rather distinctive.

Archer didn't got much screen-time, so figuring him out with just that requires some luck and/or some research.

And soon we are going to have the fight between the two siblings, which is probably going to turn out a bit different than what Dietlinde expects. But I like that, since it prevents people from thinking that Archer of Red, Tokiomi or Volquart are the good guys. They might have some principles or code of honor but that doesn't mean they won't resort to underhanded tactics if necessary.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Archer of Black**

Master:

True Name:

Sex: male

Strength: C

Endurance: C

Agility: B

Mana: D

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: C+

Class Abilities

Independent Action: A+

Servant can remain in this world indefinitely even without a Master. However, in order to activate his Noble Phantasm, it is necessary to first acquire an extra supply of prana from alternative sources.

Magic Resistance:

Skills

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1_**

Rank: C+; Anti-Army; Range: 20; Targets: 30 people

An ability that lets him gather 'ki' in his revolver to shot powerful blasts of 'ki'. Since it does not depend on prana, he can use it as often as he wants.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Rider of Black**

Master:

True Name:

Sex: male?

Strength: B

Endurance: B

Agility: E

Mana: B

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: EX

Class Abilities

Riding: A+

Creatures on the level of _Phantasmal Beast_ and _Divine Beast_ can be used as mounts. However, that does not apply to members of the _Dragon Kind._

Magic Resistance:

Skills

Mystic Body: A+

Any weapon that hits him or produced an attack that hit him will get destroyed and a curse will be placed on the wielder of said weapon. The body part that held the weapon will become unusable.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1_**

Rank: A; Anti-Army; Range: 2-10; Targets: 30 people

Gigantic flying pterosaur-like Phantasmal Beast, capable of high-speed movements that breathes foul air.

**_Noble Phantasm #2_**

Rank: EX; Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

Rider cannot be killed by anyone that falls under the category of "man".

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Lancer of Black**

Master:

True Name:

Sex: male

Strength: B

Endurance: C

Agility: A+

Mana: B

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Battle Continuation:

Magic Resistance:

Skills

Corridor of Darkness: N/A

Is the ability to see the points where the Realm of Darkness is closest to the real world and open doors between the two worlds at those places.

Wind-Magic: A

Master of wind-based thaumaturgy.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1_**

Rank: D; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

A mantle that protects the wearer from all darkness. This includes curses and thaumaturgical mental influences.

**_Noble Phantasm #2_**

Rank: B; Anti-Unit; Range: 20; Targets: 10 people

Six Lances that raise the wielder's parameters slightly and increase the proficiency of wind-based thaumaturgy.


	28. Chapter 27: Angel and Serpent

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, coronadomontes and Zarbapha.

**Zarbapha**: I am kinda cheating with two of the Servants and the definition of Anime X-overs. But I thought with a one-in-ten ratio, this still counts as one. However, if you watch a movie or play a video game and one person there fits appearance- and ability-wise to one of the Servants here to a T, it's probably him.

Chapter 27: Angel and Serpent

That night Saber of Red received an interesting letter. It came in the form of a paper airplane, indicating its owner to be Saver of Red. Saver, the wild card. He did not know what to make of that Servant.

Maybe it was because he never killed humans, but he could not think badly of him, even if the reason for that was a geis. And that was why he was meeting with the irregular Servant without consulting his Master like he had been told in the letter.

"Yo, Saber, finally showing up?" The Knight of the Sword stopped.

"Saver", he recognized the voice and turned around to face the one to issue the invitation, "so you did turn up. What was it that you wanted to discuss with me?"

But Saver of Red shook his head.

"Why don't we travel for a bit?", he asked, before summoning his levitating book and jumped on top of it. Saver held out his hand.

"Aren't you coming?"

Saber of Red hesitated at first, but then accepted the hand. He did, after all, only came in the first case because if Saver wanted to kill him, he would have done so when they had been fighting against Archer and Avenger. And he doubted that the appearance of more enemies changed something regarding his thought processes. In fact, having an opponent you know about and stood in your debt was better than trusting someone you had never seen before.

The book flew skywards and high up over the streets, before slowly but steadily continuing in one direction. Saber watched the houses and cars pass below them, before once again turning to Saver, who now had some kind of map in his hand and stared at it intensively.

"Can we talk now?", he interrupted the irregular Servant out of his musings.

"What? Oh, yes, right, let's talk." He sat down onto the pages of the book and indicated for his guest to do the same. After Saber followed this request, too, Saver coughed and then started to speak:

"Now, as you know, you are the only one capable of killing Caster of Black without killing the host, right?" Saber nodded. That was no news to either of them.

"And since she is possessing someone, I cannot kill her." Nothing knew there, either.

"And she furthermore has summoned her own Servant." Yes, that had come as quite a shock the first time around. But he still knew about it. He was there, after all. Together with all the other Servants.

"And from the way they were behaving at the meeting, I think that her Servant is Saver of Black." Now _that_ was something knew. But he still did not knew what the Servant in front of him was getting at.

"And that is worrying you, why?"

"Because of the class skill of the Saver class: **Counter Hero**!"

"**Counter Hero**? What does it do?"

"Well, ever noticed how all the guys I fight seem to be slower than before?"

"Actually… no." The only time Saver had been fighting for real had been against Archer, Assassin and Avenger at Caster's residence and at that time he had been more worried about getting his Master's wife out alive.

"But are you saying that **Counter Hero** makes all your opponents slower?"

"Not just slower. **Counter Hero** basically is reducing the Ranks of all your Parameters." Saber's eyes widened at the implication.

"How much?"

"Well, the standard **Counter Hero** of Rank B reduces the Parameters by two full ranks. Or one if the opponent in question is not a proper hero."

"Proper hero?! I thought we all are proper heroes?!"

"What it means are wraith like Hassan-I-Sabbah, Monstrous Beasts like Asterion or Anti-Heroes like Bluebeard."

"So, do I fall into the category of a proper hero?"

"I actually don't know. As grandson of Nurarihyon you shouldn't. But you're such a goody two shoes you just might. And that is a problem. I cannot let you two fight against Caster and Saver of Black all the while I still don't know, if Rider can even use her Reality Marble anymore. That is why I think I should fight against Caster and her lackey to counter their **Counter Hero** with my own. But there is still the problem of Caster's **Body Possession**."

"So, you want to team up with us?!", Saber concluded.

"That's it. You know that thanks to that geis I can't team up with someone who can't kill Caster without killing the host. Making you the only candidate for me!"

"I see. But why did you make me come here and did not ask my Master instead?!"

"Well, believe it or not, but your Master cares about the host as much as I do."

Saber narrowed his eyes.

"What do you think you know about my Master?!" Saver laughed.

"I know more than you think. Your Master and I are similar in a lot of ways. He has a goal and will stop at nothing to reach it. Not even sacrificing his own wife."

"What?! Now I now you are lying! Kiritsugu may certainly did bad things in his past, but he is trying to reach the Grail to repent for his actions!" Saver tilted his head thoughtfully.

"Now that's one way to look at it", he admitted, but his tone irritated Saber even further.

"You know, I do not have to team up with you", Saber reminded the irregular Servant, but he didn't looked worried at all.

"True, true, but are you letting Caster continue with killing innocent human just to get back at me badmouthing your Master?"

Saber sighed. The irregular Servant was right. He could not turn down that offer just because he did not liked the partner he had to work with. But did Saver distrusted Kiritsugu really that much that he did not wanted him to be part of the team?! No, more important, wouldn't that mean to completely go behind his Master's back?! How would that even work?! Kiritsugu would feel it, if he were to use his prana to fight. And using just his own? A bit risky, especially if Saver of Black was indeed as dangerous as Saver of Red claimed.

"Regardless", the irregular Servant interrupted his musings, while putting away the map he had out since the beginning of their conversation, "you should decide quickly."

Without any warning the book they sat on vanished. Suppressing a surprised yelp, Saber fell down and pummeled to the ground. Saver was right next to him, but a lot more coordinated. His upper body straightened and his legs bend, so that he could reach his shoes with his hands. At once the white wings erupted from them.

Saber transformed into his Battle-Form and turned around in mid-air, to face the ground. There he could three children. No – they just looked like children. The boy with white angel wings definitely had been with them when they had been called by Ruler, making him a Servant. And the second one… that was the black hood of Caster! But what about the third? It looked like a normal girl, but she was surrounded by what looked like a bluish-white ring that had something like a band extended to the angel-boy. Then the ring ripped up and the complete… matter was absorbed into the Servant's hand. Then the girl fell onto the ground, like a puppet that had all its strings cut.

'No way, he was feeding on her!', Saber realized and summoned **_Nenekirimaru (The Ancestral Shrine Round Cut Off)_** the same moment the pair of Servants looked up. They jumped away from the newcomers landing spot while Saver already had taken out two books and was now chanting the name of the first one:

"**_A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick (Just a Modest Proposal)_**!" The angel-boy, who was of course Saver of Black, suppressed a wince as he felt a small amount of pain surge through his chest. This moment of distraction used Saver of Red to point his second book towards the corpse of the girl and shouted:

"**_The Last Rose of Summer (Who Would Inhabit This Bleak World Alone)_**!" Suddenly the girl turned into red rose petals that flew into the air and then shot at Saver of Black. A plate with an arrow appeared right in front of the angel, directing the petals towards Saber who came running at her. But halfway the petals turned around again and were now homing in on Caster.

"_Grand Cross_!", Saver of Black shouted and out of the palms of his hand shot ten spheres different sizes in the shape of a cross. They shot forward, and Saver of Red let his first book vanish. Instead he took out a third book in the blink of an eye, held it in front of him and shouted:

"Get back! **_Casa Di Logistilla (Destruction Declaration)_**!" Saber of Red jumped behind Saver of Red as the lowest sphere hit the petals and obliterated them and all of the spheres dispersed at the same time, even those that had not touched the book at all.

"We are going to split up!", Caster of Red shouted towards her Servant, before turning around and running away.

"Make sure that Saver of Red does not follow me!"

The reason for her decision was simple. Now that she knew that Saver had the class skill **Counter Hero**, she could calculate the rank by comparing her old speed with her new one. All with the help of the Clairvoyance bestowed to her as a Master of Saver. But what she saw did not reassured her at all. Saver of Red's rank in **Counter Hero** was A+! That meant a 2-rank down for any Anti-Hero and a 3-rank down for any normal hero! As his was higher than theirs, it would be better for them, if only Saver of Black would be effected.

So she had to widen the distance between them. It was a bit risky because their enemies could just decide to gang up on Saver of Black, but she did not thought, they would actually do that. She was their goal, after all. Killing Saver of Black in exchange for letting her escape was not something that Saver of Red would risk. He only hoped that her Servant would be able to hold off one of them at last. She had decided on Saver because the irregular Servant could not kill her and thus would be staying behind on its own, while Saber had his Noble Phantasm that made it rather difficult to keep him anywhere. So, why make her Servant try something that was not possible from the beginning? Though she did wonder, why Brawler wasn't with him.

* * *

Brawler of Red sneezed.

"Are you alright?", the man with a wrinkled head, wearing a traditional Japanese clothing in front of her asked, his voice full of concern. "You aren't going to get a cold, are you?" Brawler shook her head. When she had used her Noble Phantasm to jump on top of the skyscraper, she had not thought that someone would be already there.

"Probably just somebody talking about me", she told him. "But I probably should be going now. My Master did ask for me, after all."

"No that is something I cannot allow", he said to her, sounding apologetic. "I really want to see the fight between the two Saver's."

"How can you watch the fight, if you are delaying me?", she asked interested. He smirked.

"I have my ways", he declared and black lightning started to circle around his hands.

"If we don't stop Caster, she is even going to kill more innocent human", Brawler tried to reason, but still crouched down to move as soon as she needed to.

"And what if I promise you that Caster will not kill any more children, at last?" Brawler blinked.

"You can do that?" The man nodded.

"Yes. Would be easy at this point." Brawler pondered about that. The person in front of her was rather confident in both of his statements. Being able to deal with her and keeping his promise: Maybe he was a dead apostle, too, but stronger than the other ones. If she were to fight him, it could be that she would not get to Saver in time, regardless of the outcome of this battle. But if she were to accept, the man in front of her might protect at last all the children from Caster.

"Okay", she decided, "but if it looks like my Master looses, I will help him!"

"Acceptable", the man said. "Then how about we go to them and watch them fight with our own eyes?" Brawler nodded. She really hoped she did the right thing in trusting this stranger. But she could not feel any killing intent or malice from him and so she jumped down from the building, before using the air as stepping stones towards her goal.

* * *

A bit earlier:

"You go after Caster", Saver of Red told Saber and the Knight of the Sword complied.

He shouted :"**_ Meikyō Shisui (Ripples on the Surface)_**!" and soon vanished from their view.

"_Divine Feet_!", Saver of Black shouted and a hurled a great sword of light at his red counterpart. But his opponent just moved **_Casa Di Logistilla (Destruction Declaration)_** into the way and the sword dispersed.

"Impossible!", the angel-boy shouted enraged. "How can that be? How can this puny insect block my attacks just like that?!"

"That's because your attacks are weak!", mocked the fake priest. "Your little magic tricks could not hurt a fly yet pass the **_Casa Di Logistilla (Destruction Declaration)_**! Why don't you show me your Noble Phantasm? Maybe it can entertain me a bit!"

"How dare you!" Saver of Black flew up and held his hands downwards at Saver of Red. "_Grand Cross_!" The fake priest shot upwards, directly at the centre sphere and as soon as it hit the book it dispersed, together with all the others. Saver of Red summoned his katana and slashed and the flying angel, who in denial had to float backwards to avoid the cutting edge. But the fake priest turned around in mid-air and smashed his feet down onto Saver of Black's skull with great speed. The force of the attack sent the victim flying and smashing into the ground.

"Im… possible!", he managed to spew out as Saver of Red landed behind him. "I am Lucemon, the ruler of the Digital World! I cannot lose!"

"Luce… mon…" Saver of Red repeated the name as if he was remembering something. "Oh, so you are one of those guys. I think I have an idea, what your Noble Phantasm is! No wonder you haven't used it, yet. It's not like you don't want to, you can't! Hehe. That's the problem when you're summoned by a Servant. Your Master has not the prana to spare for you. Regardless, I better should kill you, before something un-ex…" Saver of Red did not finish his sentence, as his opponent had turned into Spirit Form right in front of his eyes.

"No you don't!", shouted the fake priest, while thrusting his katana at his foe the same time. Saver of Black shifted around and instead of impaling the head, he pierced the shoulder. The angel-boy winced but finally even that part turned astral.

Saver cursed. Damn. Talking while your opponent was down was one of the ten most basic mistakes and he did it. He really had to read the list again. Then again, following the list word for word is just so boring. On the other hand, he really shouldn't mock someone whose power is evolution or wait to finish him off in general. It might come back to bite him later in the ass… oh, who was he kidding? This would definitely come back to bite him in the ass. His Luck was as high as EMIYA's after all. He just hoped Saber had more common sense than him.

* * *

Persistent Saber followed Caster. He knew that thanks to her skill **Disengage**, he had to constantly keep the Servant in his sights or risk losing her. Luckily his Agility was higher than hers, making this feat possible.

Suddenly a bunch of black arrows erupted from her back. Saber jumped back to avoid getting impaled, but some still managed to scratch him, before he was able to cut them down with his sword. Quickly Caster turned around to face him. All around them and under Saber appeared arrow plates. The Knight of the Sword thrust his blade into the earth, effectively destroying the plate directed below him, before it could take effect. However, his movements were now sealed. He could not manually destroy every single one, before Caster attacked. And she knew it.

"Oh, big brother came to play!", she shouted childishly. "Then please play with this!" A bunch of black arrows shot out from her back and arms towards Saber. But at the same time his sword changed. It glowed. the blade became a long sharpened bone and the guard a group of small human skulls.

"**_Matoi (To Use the Fear of your People): Zugaikotsu no Chikara_**!", shouted the Knight of the Sword and rammed his weapon into the ground. At once a shockwave spread around him, disrupting the earth and push it up far enough to not just destroy all the arrow plates, but even block the incoming arrows.

"Wa?", Caster could not believe her ears. Did Saver had yet another Noble Phantasm?! But she could not waste her time to ponder on that, as she heard the all to familiar "**_Kyōka Suigetsu (The Moon Reflected on the Surface of a Puddle)_**." However, it was too late. Saber of Red was already behind her and before she even could turn around he had thrust his **_Nenekirimaru (The Ancestral Shrine Round Cut Off)_**, which had already reversed into its previous state, into her unprotected back.

* * *

"Oh, looks like Saver of Red is already finished", the mysterious man told Brawler, while they were both jumping on the rooftops. "Such a pity but it looks like Saver of Black had been no match at all!" Brawler looked interested at him. So, he really could tell what happened way ahead of them. Was he using familiars? But from what Saver had told her, you had to transfer your consciousness to your familiar to see through it's eyes, so how could he still be running? However, the man was not finished talking, yet:

"How about this: Since the Saver are already done, why don't we go to Assassin instead?" Brawler perked up.

"Assassin is here? Which one?"

"The black one. And he is really close. Actually it looks, like he's going to Caster. So, how about it?"

"Okay, please guide me."

* * *

Saber had the feeling that something was wrong. He could not quite pin down what it was, but he had the feeling, not everything had went like planned. Critically he took a look at Caster and then he noticed: She had no hood! The girl was not Caster! Quickly Saber pulled out his sword, supported the girl and looked around. There! A bit further away stood Caster in her adult form.

"I compliment you on your effort", she said, not sounding worried at all, "but it looks like you've missed!"

"You jumped out of the body at the last moment!", Saber analyzed and Caster giggled.

"Well, you know how the saying goes: Fool me once…" Saber understood. It looked like that was exactly how Caster had been killed once before. Of course she would search for a way not to let the same thing happen again.

"But I now have your Master", Saber reminded her. "And without a host you are fair game for anybody. That also means, I can use any technique I want to finish you off!" He pointed his sword at Caster.

"Oh, I don't know about that…", she replied with a sadistic smile. Suddenly Saber heard a tearing sound and a wet liquid spluttered against his face. Before his brain recognized, what just happened, his eyes saw something similar to a black snake withering away from him. In its maw it carried an arm. Now his brain connected the facts and he looked down, only to find the girl in his grasp missing the right arm and blood continuously pouring out of the stump.

"You..!", he shouted, too enraged to find words while trying to stop the blood flow with his clothes, which was easier said than done.

"I really hope you don't plan on fighting me like that, big brother", she said in a sweet child-like voice, which was made even surreal by the fact that for the first time he encountered her, she did not had a childish form, "because if that girl doesn't receive medical attention soon, she is going to die!"

"I'll kill you!", promised Saber, "and if it costs me the Holy Grail, I'll kill you!" Caster laughed.

"Be sure not to kill the host, when you do, right~?" Saber closed his eyes and suddenly black fog appeared around his figure.

"**_Matoi (To Wear the Fear of your People): Kuro no Gen no Makitsukeru_**!", he shouted and suddenly black strings appeared out of every single part of his clothes, constricting the stump that once had been the girls arm and at the same time shot out at Caster of Red, to ensnare her from all sides. The spell caster had been distracted and jumped back too late. Before the threads reached her, however…

"Hello, Saber~" The Knight of the Sword managed to turn around just in time to see a katar at his exposed neck. But before it could reach him, its owner, Assassin of Black, was suddenly pushed backwards by a dropkick to the face. Brawler of Red had just reached the battlefield in time to rescue her temporary ally, but there was no trace of the mysterious man that had been with her beforehand.

Caster however used the short confusion in Saber to transform into a snake and wriggle out of the cage of strings. Meanwhile Assassin of Black stood up and faced his new adversary, who was now crouching, ready to jump at any moment.

"Oh, so you want me to take your head in his place?", Assassin asked while smiling sadistically. "Happy, happy." But his Master had different plans.

'That won't be necessary', Zouken sent his Servant over their mental link. 'You already achieved, what you came for!'

'But I want to cut something!', Assassin responded. 'I want to kill and kill and kill.'

'Now that just won't do right now. _Assassin, by the power of this Command Seal I order you, to not engage in combat without my permission!_' Assassin was not pleased as the Command Seal took effect.

"I'll have your neck for taking away my fun!", he promised, before vanishing into Spirit From.

"Is she going to be alright?", Brawler asked the Knight of the Sword, still warily looking around for any signs of Assassin of Black trying to attack again.

"She is going to be needing medical attention as soon as possible", Saber answered. "I guess you don't have some healing abilities?" Brawler denied. Looks like he had to ask Zen for help.

"I suggest moving her to the church. Why? Because **_Un souvenir de Solférino (All Man Are Brothers)_** has small healing properties and makes attacks on her impossible in that location."

It seemed that after one Assassin is gone the other shows up. Brawler spun around, but Assassin of Red placated her.

"I am not here to fight", he declared, took out a scroll and with a puff of smoke materialized bandages and a rope. Then he proceeded to change the strings around the girl's "arm" with the rope and bandaged it.

"Saver is coming", Brawler suddenly announced and soon enough they could see him coming flying through the air.

"Well, that's a surprise", the irregular Servant noted after seeing Assassin. And after looking further… "Is that Caster's host?"

"Yes", Saber confirmed.

"Then did you got her?"

"No, Assassin of Black stopped me."

"Oh? You mean the sidekick for the Queen of Hearts?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about", Saber of Red replied honestly.

"We should first help the girl", Brawler interrupted, who actually had understood the implications but was, like she said, more concerned with the child's survival.

"She is right", Saber agreed and started running, leaving the others behind. Assassin turned into Spirit Form and so Saver and Brawler were left alone.

"Well, let's go back to Akage", he said, "but seriously, why can't I let go of the feeling, I know that girl…"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

And the next one reveals his identity. And yes, he is a Digimon. But like the nasuverse the digiverse also has some parallel universes and alternative versions of one and the same. So, in one version he fights against the main characters while in the second he befriends them. I've chosen the first one.

Regardless of which form, since both of them have the same attacks, none can defeat Saver of Red without evolving, something made really difficult thanks to his Master.

But it looks like they are getting some support.

I won't include the parameter charts for Assassin of Black and Brawler of Red, because they had just so little screen time and they didn't showed anything new. This of course goes double for Assassin of Red.

On that note, I think I am going to start writing parameter charts for Saver of Red, too, every time he shows up and does something noteworthy. But unlike the others, I won't show you all his Noble Phantasm, just those that were used this chapter or mentioned by name and unlike the others I will not show what Akage knows about him but use the parameter chart of Chapter 20 as basis and just add all new information.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Caster of Black**

Master: none

True Name:

Sex: female

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Mana: B

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: B+

Class Abilities

Territory Creation: A

is the skill to build a special terrain that is advantageous to oneself as a magus.

Creation of a "Temple", which is superior to a "Workshop", becomes possible.

Item Creation:

Skills

Presence Concealment: C

Is the capacity to hide one's presence as a Servant.

It is more difficult to be perceived as long as there is no intent of attacking.

Disengage: D

Is the ability to break away from combat.

Running away from a fight becomes rather easy.

Body Possession:

Is a skill that allows to possess other beings, making use of some of their power.

Deception Expert: A

Is the ability to fool the people around oneself.

At this Rank Caster is immune to the ability "Discernment of the Poor"

Vector Magic: A+

A thaumaturgy branch that utilizes arrows and directions in a fight.

Caster can produce thousands of arrows and controlling them at once.

Noble Phantasm

**Black Blood: There Is no Fun in Sanity**

Rank: B+; Anti-Unit; Range: 1; Targets: 1 person

A big Syringe that infuses a target with a black substance, causing it to become as strong as a minor Heroic Spirit. The target gains parameters of Rank D, except Strength and Agility, which increase to C, if the target gave its consent and the abilities "Battle Continuation" Rank D and "Mad Enhancement" Rank D. Furthermore, the blood of the target becomes black in color and impenetrable to everything that is not a Noble Phantasm. If the target is infected longer than 72 hours, it also gains the ability "Blood Control" Rank B.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Saber of Red**

Master: Emiya Kiritsugu

True Name: Nura Rikuo

Sex: Male

Strength: B

Endurance: A

Agility: B

Mana: C

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: A+

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: B

Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Riding: A+

Creatures on the level of _Phantasmal Beast_ and _Divine Beast_ can be used as mounts. However, that does not apply to members of the _Dragon Kind._

Skills

Charisma: C

Is the natural talent to command an army. Increases the ability of allies during group battles.

Suitable to lead an army.

Double Identity: ?

A skill given to those, who have adopted two distant personalities that even people who witnessed the change, might think of them as two people.

It allows Saber to take on a weaker, prana-saving form. Most Noble Phantasm cannot be used in this form and it has to be completely devoid of sunlight, for Saber to switch back.

Noble Phantasm

**Meikyō Shisui: Ripples on the Surface**

Rank: C; Anti-Army; Range: 0-20; Targets: 200 people

A technique that shifts oneself into the blind spots of ones opponents.

**Kyōka Suigetsu: The Moon Reflected on the Surface of a Puddle**

Rank: B; Anti-Army; Range: 0-20; Targets: 200 people

**Nenekirimaru: The Ancestral Shrine Round Cut Off**

Rank: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Phantasmal/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-2; Targets: 1 person

A Japanese katana forged by an Onmyouji. After cutting, the sword places a curse on its victim, forcing it to rapidly losing health and refusing the wound to close.

**Hyakki Yakō: My Night Parade of One Hundred Demons**

Rank: A+; Anti-Army; Range: 1-99; Targets: 1000 people

A Reality Marble that summons all the Phantasmal Species who have served under Saber. It is not a true Reality Marble, but rather a mystery, created by the combined power of Saber's followers.

**Matoi: To Use the Fear of your People**

Rank: A+; Anti-Army/Anti-Fortress; Range: 0-99; Targets: 1000 people

Mounting the subordinate's fear on the leader's blade and then firing this amplified attack at the enemy.

**Matoi: To Wear the Fear of your People**

Rank: A+; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0-99; Targets: 1 person

The leader wraps his subordinate's fear about himself like a kimono and then they align their two hearts.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: Saver of Black**

Master: Caster of Black (Servant)

True Name: Lucemon

Sex: male

Strength: C

Endurance: B

Agility: C

Mana: C

Luck: D

Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Counter Hero: B

Induces an effective 2-rank parameter reduction against any opponent that can be classified as a 'Hero.' The parameter-down effect is reduced by one rank in the circumstance that the opponent is of the 'Antihero' category.

Charisma: E-

Leadership-skill of a tyrant.

Skills

Independent Action: B

Capable of remaining in this world for two days without an established contract. Also capable of living on for a short period of time after suffering extensive damage on his spiritual core. Honoring Sacrifice: A+

Doubles the amount you gain every time you kill someone to absorb their prana.

Absorption: B

Allows for absorbing other people's data to increase ones performance.

Noble Phantasm

**Evolution: To Reach New Highs**

Rank: B; Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

Allows to transform the user into a more powerful form after assimilating a certain amount of prana and data.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Saver of Red**

Master: Akaji Akage

True Name:

Sex: Male?

Strength: E

Endurance: E

Agility: C+

Mana: E

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Counter Hero: A+

Induces an effective 3-rank parameter reduction against any opponent that can be classified as a 'Hero.' The parameter-down effect is reduced by one rank in the circumstance that the opponent is of the 'Antihero' category.

Charisma: D

Leadership-skill increases slightly.

Skills

Human Body: ?

Saver doesn't need a Master to exist and has a higher mana regeneration, but can not enter spirit form.

Collector: A+

The talent to collect high quality goods.

Saver is capable of collecting all books and written texts.

High-Speed-Writing: A+

Saver can write fast enough for it not to be noticed.

High-Speed-Incantation: B

Is the capacity to recite spells at high speeds.

The words are nearly unable to be understood.

Rune Magic: A

is knowledge about this type of Magecraft

capacity to use the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark

Acrobatics: B

Is the ability to use acrobatic feats in air combat.

Increases agility by one rank as long as Saver is airborne.

Noble Phantasm

**Casa Di Logistilla: Destruction Declaration**

Rank: C; Anti-Unit/Anti-Thaumaturgy; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

A thick magic-binding leather book that has the ability to disable magical properties. When equipped it gives "Magic Resistance" of Rank A.

**Un souvenir de Solférino: All Man Are Brothers**

Rank: A++; Range: infinitive; Targets: 1 religious building

By placing it in a chosen area it can turn said area into a Non-Combat-Zone, where everybody absolutely cannot take any hostile actions and receives a small regenerative boost. It can only be removed by the person who placed it.

**A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick: Just a Modest Proposal**

Rank: A+; Anti-Unit; Range: 1-15; Targets: 1 person

Can only be activated on someone as he kills a child in front of your eyes and absorbs its prana. The person in question receives damage direct proportional to the number of children it killed this way. Can not be used by someone who has killed children to absorb their prana.

**The Last Rose of Summer: Who Would Inhabit This Bleak World Alone**

Rank: D; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0-25; Targets: 1 person

Transforms the remains of a person who died in front of your eyes or oneself into sharp rose petals who attack your opponent.


	29. Chapter 28: Betrayed

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you for your review, **coronadomontes**.

Chapter 28: Betrayed

"Hehe. You sure are in a pinch, aren't you?" Caster of Red nearly jumped as she was addressed all of a sudden. She turned around and came face to face with the Master of Assassin of Black, Matou Zouken. Warily she eyed the newcomer. What did he meant? No, more importantly, what did he wanted?

"You've sent Assassin to help me… why?", she asked. Zouken chuckled.

"Hehe. You have aroused my interest. Your Master had been completely incompetent, yet you still managed to survive this long and even became your own Master. But you are starting to reach your limits. You are alone while nearly everybody teamed up with each other and even though you summoned a second Servant for yourself, you cannot fully support him. He is using your own prana, after all. But you cannot possess a magi to compensate, as you need a child to be protected against a killing strike by Saver of Red. A dire situation, wouldn't you think so?"

"It just might. But what is it to you?"

"I have a proposal: an alliance that continues until all the others are defeated."

"You want us to team up? And you have no problems with the fact that I am on the hit list?"

"Hehe. You sure? What is Risei going to do? Give your killer a Command Seal? All the Command Seals are now in Ruler's possession. And he didn't outlawed you." Caster smiled sinister.

"My, you are certainly right. I am so happy to have found someone like-minded. I certainly wouldn't mind accepting your proposal."

"Hehe. There are still some problems that need addressing."

"And they are?"

"Your new host. I think I have found something both Saver-proof and capable of providing you with prana."

"Oh, really? Well, that certainly sounds great."

"Although you'd have to leave it for certain periods of time, as I am still training it."

"That doesn't seem to be such a big setback."

"Great! Then there is only one more condition. Do you know about the concept of 'equivalent exchange'? I have just talked to Master Einzbern about this and he agrees: We would like you to change your Servant, Saver of Black, with his, Rider of Black."

"Oh? Is he not satisfied with his own Servant."

"Hehe. No, he is satisfied. But we thought it would be favorable for all participants, if we were to put the one with the skill **Counter Hero** under a proper Master. He has to be able to fight against Saver of Red, after all."

"Now that is certainly true. Any particular reason why you want me to become the Master of Rider and not your Assassin?" In the manner of 'talking about the devil' Assassin of Black suddenly appeared behind Zouken and in one swift motion sliced his Master's head from his shoulders.

"Hello~", Assassin greeted with a cheerfully sadistic smile.

"Hehe", the separated head continues to talk, "answers this your question, Caster?" The addressed Servant could not help but smile.

"Yes, it does." She sent a mental message towards Saver of Black. "I'll be looking forward to be working with you."

* * *

"I see you are back", Kiritsugu greeted his Servant in a voice completely devoid of any emotion. Irisviel stood next to them, clutching her hands in worry. Waver and Rider were still asleep at this point. Saber of Red, who once again had assumed his Standard Form, shifted uncomfortable. He did just met Saver without consulting his Master beforehand. So, it wouldn't be surprising for him to be angry. Except he didn't seemed to be. Of course it could just be that didn't showed it because of his poker face, but Saber didn't found any anger in the man's expressions.

"_In the name of Kiritsugu Emiya and by my Command Seal, I order you, never again leave Irisviel's side without my consent._"

"Kiritsugu", muttered Irisviel worried, but did not spoke further. Saber sighed.

"So, you are angry", Saber asked guilty. He had to be pissed off big time to use a Command Seal on him. However, Kiritsugu surprisingly denied:

"No, personal feelings do not factor." They didn't?

"Then why…?"

"It should be obvious. I cannot gain the Holy Grail when my Servant is conspiring against me."

"I did not conspire against you", Saber denied. "All I did was meeting Saver to talk... Well, that was the plan. I did not expect to be dropped off right on top of Caster and her Servant…"

"Who is Caster's Servant?", Kiritsugu interrupted.

"Oh, ehm, that would be Saver of Black, the angel-boy I've been talking about. Oh, by the way, Saver of Red told me their class skill is **Counter Hero**!"

"**Counter Hero**?"

"Yes, it decreases your opponents parameters by full ranks. I don't know their specific ranks though." So that was how Saver of Red managed to fight against Berserker and Lancer of Red on equal terms.

"But since he found out, Caster's Servant is a Saver, too, he decided that he had to fight them. But since he cannot kill Caster, he asked me for help."

"Why not me?" That was something Kiritsugu did not understand. Assuming everything Saber of Red said was true, then why would Saver of Red not consult him to defeat Caster. He did sent the Noble Phantasm **_Les Passions de l'âme (Soul and Body Are One)_** to him to trap Caster in her current body. He could not think of a reason, except…

"Well, he said he doesn't trust you." And he had all reason for that. Saver was a really dangerous Servant, capable of fighting against three others simultaneously. Furthermore he was way too unpredictable. No one knew, what he would do next. So Kiritsugu would have taken every chance he could get to finish him off.

Saber was blissfully unaware of that and so continued talking:

"But I think, he was just lying to make me doubt you. I mean, he even claimed that to win the Grail War you would even sacrifice Irisviel. I mean there is just no way you would do something like that, right?"

Irisviel gasped and held her hands above her mouth.

"No way", she whispered. "He knows?" Even though she had said them quietly, Saber had heard these words.

"What do you mean, he knows?", he asked, his face pale. He turned around to Kiritsugu.

"What does she mean, he knows?!" When Saver had claimed it, he did not really believed it. But a small sapling of doubt had been planted inside of him. The question was actually supposed to kill it. To prove that his Master definitely cared for his wife.

But Irisviel's reaction just now indicated the opposite. Wait! Irisviel knew about it, too!

"Just what aren't you telling me?!" The whole time Kiritsugu's face had been without any expression, while Irisviel's way filled with worry.

"Please Saber, let us explain", Irisviel begged and Saber turned back towards her.

"Fine", he said. "I'll listen to what you have to say. But you better tell me the truth. And I want Kiritsugu to do some of the explaining, too."

"The truth, huh?", Kiritsugu mused, looking out of the window into the far distance. "The truth is, Irisviel was not supposed to survive the Heaven's Feel."

"What?!" Saber couldn't believe his ears.

"The truth is, Irisviel is the original vessel of the Holy Grail." Nope. Still couldn't believe his ears.

"What do you mean, she is a vessel?! Can humans even become vessels?!"

"But I am not a human", Irisviel explained. "I am a homunculus, created by Jubstacheit von Einzbern to become the vessel for the Lesser Grail.

"No way…" The whole time. When they had went sight-seeing, when they had played games, when they had fought. The whole time she had known that she would die after the Holy Grail War was over. And with every defeated Servant, she would have been a step closer to death. But wait! That was before! Now the rules have changed!

"But you aren't the vessel anymore, right? And even if you are, thanks to the activation of the failsafe, you would be able to survive! All you have to do is to keep from fighting Servants and you'll be fine! So, why are you still here?" The next sentence was directed especially towards his Master: "Why would you sacrifice your own wife to gain the Holy Grail?! I don't care if you search for world peace, it does not give you the right to kill your family!"

"It's not as simple as you think", Irisviel interrupted and Saber turned towards her.

"And why are you alright with this?!", he asked her. "I have heard that love makes blind, but this…"

"That's enough, Saber", Irisviel stated firmly, in a voice that allowed for no disobedience and the Knight of the Sword fell silent. "I know you are worried about me, but it is my decision. Please respect it."

"How can I continue fighting, if it means the death of someone I care about?"

"Please Saber, if Kiritsugu does not win this Heaven's Feel and a fifth one will be initiated, the next vessel will be our daughter!"

"Illya?" Saber's thoughts went back to the small girl, looking like a mini version of Irisviel. He had only seen her for a small period of time, before they departed for the Holy Grail War, but he already was found of the cheerful child.

"There is nothing you can do against it?", he asked and Irisviel shook her head.

"Not without a miracle." So that's her reason for participation. And if Kiritsugu's expressions that showed while playing with his daughter were not fake, he would not want his daughter to die, too. But was there really no way for Irisviel to survive?

"I understand", Saber said. "I will help you getting the Holy Grail." For know. But if he found a way to save both Irisviel and Illyasviel, he would take it.

* * *

"Do you have a moment?"

"Huh?" Archer of Red turned around. He was wearing casual clothes but he did not had his crutch. He kept both of his hands inside his pocket, while around the wrist of the left one hang a grocery bag. Opposite of him stood a man in a red shirt under black suit. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, who also had put his right hand leisurely into his pocket.

They stood in a street filled with trees without leaves. Further away one could see multiple skyscrapers. Around Archer on the ground lay a bunch of people, not moving. On various parts of were the people lay, had the street layer been damaged.

"And from which lab are you the errand boy?", he asked annoyed.

"Why would you think that?", the man asked.

"Anyone who approaches me is always someone who either wants to milk some data out of me or some idiot trying to claim the title of Academy City's strongest." It appeared the people laying on the ground had been of the second variety.

"I see."

"Well, and considering both of them are full of shit, there's not much of a difference." Archer started walking and the man followed him.

"Perhaps. But I think you might like to participate in the Level 6 shift project."

"Level 6 shift?"

"An experiment we calculated using the Tree Diagram."

"Ha. Not interested. I am already the highest rank in Academy City, which means I am the strongest in the world. No matter who comes and what they try, nobody can beat me. So, I have nothing to gain from getting stronger."

"Yes, it is true. You are indeed the strongest esper. However, if you only stay the strongest, nothing will change." Archer stopped and turned around to face the man. Even though his face looked like he was pissed off, one who knew Archer could tell that he was at last a bit interested in what the man had to say. "However, if you would evolve beyond the strongest into some absolute power, it might just bring about some changes in your life."

'Evolving beyond the strongest', Tokiomi mused. Certainly, this was something that could make someone a Heroic Spirit, even if he was from the future. But did it worked? If you looked at his crutch, it didn't seemed that way. Something along the way probably stopped him. He still had managed to become a hero afterwards, stronger than his previous self or he would have been summoned without the need of a support. He was supposed to be capable of dealing with ORT, after all. That alone showed Tokiomi, Archer still not had used all his power. He really would like to see the extent of his abilities and maybe the fight tomorrow against Miss Edelfelt's Servant would show a bit more of the power, he got a glimpse from, when Archer had lifted the building into the air.

* * *

"Gurr, gurr", a white dove circled above them in the dark sky. Volquart wondered, what a diurnal bird was doing so late in the night, it was eleven o'clock pm after all. He would have guessed it being a familiar of one of the Masters in the Holy Grail War, if it weren't for the fact that no magus would use such conspicuous animal at such a time of the day. Maybe it belonged to Caster of Red. A magus usually stuck to one type of familiar and a Heroic Spirit might not care that much about keeping thaumaturgy a secret. Though he really hoped this was not the case, as someone who would threaten to reveal the existence of thaumaturgy to the world was really the last thing they needed right now.

Finally he and Avenger of Red had reached their destination: The Fuyuki City Park. Upon entering he already noticed the bounded field which sole purpose was to keep outsiders away. He did not needed to guess who placed it there. They had an appointment, after all.

"Brother", Dietlinde addressed Volquart, "so you decided to show yourself." The lambs provided not much light, but even in the half-light her face showed him that she was completely serious.

"Miss Edelfelt", was his response, "no, sister, what brought this on. Why do you want to kill me?" At once the woman lost all composure.

"What brought this on?! Oh, you know what brought this on! After all the things I've done for you, you pay me back this way!" What the hell was she talking about? Avenger was looking at her Master, who seemed to be just as clueless as she was.

"Are you misunderstanding something…", he asked but was interrupted by his sister.

"Silence!", she fumed, "I don't want to hear any of your excuses! Brawler, destroy them!"

"Finally. I was wondering how long you would make me wait." Brawler of Black casually walked in front of his Master.

"Then will you come at me?!", he addressed Avenger of Red, who was looking at her Master, waiting for orders. Volquart didn't knew what to do. He knew what they had agreed on the other day, but should he really fight and kill his sister? Since he was hesitating Brawler decided to take matters into his own hands.

"If you don't come at me. Then I'll have to get you."

In the blink of an eye, Brawler vanished only to reappear right in front of Avenger, delivering a devastating punch. Avenger managed to bring up her hands just in time to minimize the damage, but still was sent flying through the air, crashing into some of the trees behind them. She didn't stayed down for long but jumped up and rushed fist raised towards her opponent. He only smirked, as he blocked her punch with his own. Avenger spun around and sent a kick towards his head, which he blocked with his right arm. She then dropped backwards onto her hand, pushed herself up and whirled around into the opposite direction. But again Brawler managed to block just in time.

Helplessly Volquart watched the two Servants fight each other as his gaze went over to his sister. She had folded her arms and was now looking at the fight with smug satisfaction. Suddenly a rage he had never felt before filled Volquart. Enough was enough! He was fed up with her! Always bossing him around and treating him like trash! Just because she managed to marry into an old family she suddenly had her nose high up into the air, yet there was nothing special about herself! Even the magecraft she used for his sound-gem had come from the Edelfelts! And now she wouldn't even listen to him! He really had enough! He didn't cared anymore if it was only a misunderstanding that they could probably resolve with talking. He didn't cared that the person in front of him was his sister, either. He would kill her!

"Avenger", he addressed his Servant, "destroy them!" His Servant only nodded once before going after the martial artist with new vigor. Brawler smiled at that. Looks like she finally was going to be serious.

Avenger jumped into the air, did a role and smashed her foot hard onto her opponents head. Brawler got caught off-guard by the sudden increase in speed and Avenger managed to hit him and sent him into the ground. He didn't stayed there for long but suddenly vanished into thin air.

Before she could react he turned up behind her and delivered a kick that sent her flying. Not even waiting for her to hit the ground, Brawler appeared directly above her, kicking her again. Avenger grabbed onto his leg, spun around it and delivered a kick to his head herself. He blocked with his left elbow and followed up with a straight right. She used her second leg to push it away, before spinning around again. With a jerk Brawler dislodged his leg and whirled around all the same to meet her kick with his in mid-air. The clash was strong enough to sent a small shockwave flying away. The trace of a smile made it onto the face of Brawler, while Avenger concentrated stared at her adversary.

"Brawler", Dietlinde's made herself impatiently known, "use your Noble Phantasm to destroy them already!" Brawler jumped backwards onto the ground. Avenger shortly followed, but when she hit the land, she at once rushed at Brawler. Since she had no Noble Phantasm she could use in such a situation, she had to stop him from using his!

"_Soru_!" Brawler vanished directly in front of Avenger only to reappear some yards away.

"I do not think using my Noble Phantasm will be necessary", he said. He had gotten information on the Servant class Avenger through the Holy Grail, after all – together with what a Holy Grail War was really about. Not revenge like his Master apparently thought.

"But I can step up the pace a bit, if you so desire, Master. _Rankyaku__!_"

Suddenly a blade of air shot out from him and Avenger dove out of the way before the blade crashed into the ground she had been just moments ago, sending a dust cloud into the air. But that was not all. With small intervals between them, three more air blades shot at her. She landed on her hand, pushed herself up to get missed by a hair's breadth and span around in the air to evade the follow-ups.

"_Soru_." Yet even before the third one had completely passed her, Brawler suddenly appeared in front of her. "_Shigan_."

"Avenger!", shouted Volquart full of fear as blood flew through the air. The Heroic Spirit had enough power to jump away from her enemy but it was apparent she did not made it out unscratched. As she landed next to her Master in feral position, she was clutching her bleeding left shoulder with her right hand. Only now Brawler looked up. His index finger was covered with a dark substance that no one had to guess what it was.

"Hang on!", Volquart told his Servant and sent prana through their link which healed the wound at once. Dietlinde was delighted.

"Yes!", she shouted. "Kill them, destroy them! Show them what it means to cross an Edelfelt!" Her rant was halted, when she noticed something on her shoulder.

"Stupid mosquitoes", she grumbled and flapped after the insect.

"_Rankyaku_!" With more energy than he had ever shown before, Brawler had turned around and sent out four air slices around his Master, before using a Soruto instantly cross the distance between them and picking her up bridal-style.

"Wha- what are you doing, you stupid Servant!", she shouted enraged, but Brawler didn't paid heed to anything his Master said and vanished just as a cloud of bugs descended at the place he had been before. Any further complaining was put on hold as the sudden increase in speed left her clinging onto the Servant for her dear life. While running away from the bugs, Brawler noticed that they were starting to encircle him and so changed his tactic.

He jumped upwards and shouted: "_Geppou_!" Then he suddenly propelled himself forward towards Volquart.

"Like I'd let you!", Avenger shouted and jumped to intercept him. It was clear, what he was trying to do. No matter how strong the Servant was, he needed his Master alive – except for Servants with **Independent Action**. Yet Brawler did not seem to have this skill. And it also appeared, as if he would not be able to defend his Master like he would like to, since it didn't looked like he had something up his sleeve that would help him against bugs. So the only reasonable action was to take out the opponent first and as quick as possible. And the fastest and easiest way would be taking out the Master. Avenger could not let that happen.

However, Brawler easily jumped over her by stepping on the air as if it was solid. Before she could react, he was already upon her surprised Master, delivering a devastating kick to the torso, so powerful that it went right through him and literally kicked some of his organs out.

"Volquart! No!", Avenger shouted horrified, while Brawler allowed himself to smirk. But both expressions turned to utter disbelief when Volquart – or rather his remains – turned into a cloud of bugs which descended on the shocked Brawler of Black.

"_Kamisori_!" Even though the martial artist was surprised he did not hesitated for a moment and vanished only to reappear somewhere else. It did not looked good for them as even more bugs buzzed after him and furthermore he could detect a great source of prana coming… from above. Brawler jumped backwards only for Archer of Red, who somehow had a bunch of black vortexes swirling on his back, to crash right into the place he had been standing just moments before, shattering the earth around him.

But the Knight of the Bow did not stayed down for long but at once shot after the enemies all the while laughing like a maniac. Now the sensible thing would have been to take his Master and get out of their as fast as possible, but as he saw his opponent come at him with his retracted fist, his fighter-instinct wouldn't let him back down and so he changed directions and shot fist-raised against Archer of Red.

His fist met Archer's and now something unexpected happened. He would have expected overpowering Archer and knocking him back. He would have expected neither to give an inch and try to push the other away in a dead-lock. He even would have expected to be overpowered and thrown back. Even if his opponent was carrying a crutch he was still coming after someone of the Brawler-class with just his fists and the wing-like vortexes on his back might give him not just speed but also strength. What he did not expected was his arm to snap back so violently that it broke at two spots simultaneously. Brawler could not react fast enough to stop Archer from drilling his fist into his other arm but he was still fast enough to bring up said arm to protect his Master from immediate annihilation.

Regardless, when Archer made contact with his skin, he was thrown backwards and crashing through multiple trees before smashing into the ground. Since he had held his Master in front of him, his back protected her from nearly all damage. But that was not the main issue here. Archer did not stopped coming after them and even though Brawler alone could easily get out of this predicament, his Master had no such abilities.

Seriously, why did his Master had to be so weak? He got the unique chance to fight against strong opponents from all of humanity's history, yet could not enjoy it, because his Master was so weak. Maybe he should just kill her and get another Master. The only question was, how?

"_Soru_!" Seeing that the enemy was not using his strength but an ability, he did what he should have done earlier and raced out of the Fuyuki Park. Or rather that had been his original plan. But he stopped and instead Archer had to quickly fly back as a flash of white light crashed into the place he had been going to just the moment before. But that was not all. Five more flashes went after Archer of Red, one bigger than the last. Even though Archer managed to evade all of them, it still widened the distance between Brawler and him. However, at the same time the flashes of light appeared, a new source of prana made itself known. When Brawler now risked a gaze towards it, he could see a figure hidden in a black coat. In his hands, covered by black gloves he carried two purple-white spears with dragon heads – and four more were hovering in the air behind him.

"Good evening Miss Edelfelt, Brawler of Black", the newcomer addressed them, "I am Lancer of Black and have come on the behalf of my Master to make a proposal." The black whirlwinds on Archer's back turned into streams that shot towards the Knight of the Lance. It seemed whatever this proposal was, he did not wanted him to offer it. Lancer whirled around to knock off the black lances all the while directing his four reserves at the Knight of the Bow. Again Archer was forced to give up his position and jump out of the way before he got impaled. Now that Dietlinde had time to breath, she finally recognized what her brother had done.

"Volquart, you craven coward!", she roared. "Did you actually bring another Servant to our duel?!" As answer she received another cloud of bugs coming at her. This time, however,

Lancer appeared out of a black hole in the air and blew away the attacking bugs.

"We should discuss this somewhere else", he said, before stepping back into the portal. In a split-second Brawler decided to go after him. If he fought against those guys his Master would most likely die and this would make it impossible for him to fight anymore. If Lancer was trying to trick him it wouldn't matter, since it would be the same outcome – in the worst case. But if Lancer was honest, he could stay in the game.

Avenger of Red crashed her fist into the ground just after the portal closed behind Brawler of Black and his Master.

"Tch. They got away", Archer made his dissatisfaction known. His voice made Avenger jump out of her stupor and spin around.

"What just happened?!", she demanded to know. "Where is Volquart?!"

"I am here!" Avenger spun around again and when she saw her Master standing there unharmed she ran towards him, jumped off and hugged him. As she touched him, however, his body turned again into a cloud of bugs and the Servant rotated around in mid-air to land in feral position and not crash into the ground.

"Assassin!", she raged. The silent killer materialized.

"I advice you not to do that. Why? Because with you're A-ranked Strength you might kill him." Behind him stood a clearly flabbergasted Volquart.

"I got switched again", he mused.

"You are only surprised because you had never seen Assassin die", commented Archer.

"Let us go back for now", suggested Assassin. "Why? Because right now we still could be targeted by another enemy."

"Fine", grumbled Avenger. "But once we are home, I want to know exactly what happened!"

"Good", Archer exclaimed. "Then what are we going to do with this fucker?!" Avenger followed his line of sight.

"Eh, when did he appeared?!" Sitting on a tree branch was the so called war painter and it seemed like he was doing what his name suggested: Painting.

"Shortly after the beginning of the fight. You should actually know this. Why? Because he does not have **Presence Concealment** like Assassin and thus you should be able to feel his prana." Avenger stared aghast at the silent killer, before closing her eyes.

"Now that you mention it…" Archer of Red was meanwhile bothered by something different.

"You sure you want to just leave him here?", he asked Assassin of Red.

"It would be unwise to engage him right now. Why? Because he is a completely unknown element."

"Tch. I knew you would say something like that. Then let's get the hell out of here, before he decides for us!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Hi guys and gals.

So, besides wrapping up some things of the last chapter, today we also what I had announced two chapters before: The first confrontation between the two Weissbach siblings. Usually there is no way for Avenger of Red to beat Brawler of Black but unlike Brawler of Red, he is a real martial artist, making Archer of Red a really bad match-up for him. Luckily for Dietlinde, just like Caster of Black, she has a benefactor.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: Avenger of Red**

Master: Volquart Weissbach

True Name:

Sex: Female

Strength: A

Endurance: E-

Agility: D

Mana: E-

Luck: E-

Noble Phantasm: D

Class Abilities

None

Skills

Acrobatics: A

Is the ability to use acrobatic feats in air combat.

Additionally the Agility of Avenger is raised by two ranks as long as Avenger is airborne.

Noble Phantasm

**Gate Keeper Merry: The Door Between the Worlds**

Rank: D; Anti-Army; Range: 0-99; Targets: 1 area

An ability that destroys the current Reality Marble or other supernatural area creations that Avenger stands in and damages the owners Soul. The higher the destroyed mystery, the greater the damage. It does not work on a place that was adjusted with something akin to Territory Creation Rank C or less.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: Brawler of Black**

Master: Dietlinde Edelfelt

True Name:

Sex: male

Strength: A

Endurance: A

Agility: B

Mana: E

Luck: E-

Noble Phantasm:

Class Abilities

Bravery: C+

Decreases the effects of mental interference such as pressure, confusion and fascination by half. Through high konzentration the rank can be doubled for a short time.

Battle Continuation:

Skills

Eye of the Mind (True): C

Capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. So long there is even a 5% chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning.

Rokushiki:

A special fighting style created by breaking the limits of one's body.

Noble Phantasm

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Archer of Red**

Master: Tohsaka Tokiomi

True Name:

Sex: Male

Strength: E

Endurance: B

Agility: E

Mana: E

Luck: C

Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: B

Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Independent Action: A+

Servant can remain in this world indefinitely even without a Master. However, in order to activate his Noble Phantasm, it is necessary to first acquire an extra supply of prana from alternative sources.

Skills

Eye of the Mind (True): C

Capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. So long there is even a 5% chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning.

Discernment of the Poor: A

He will not be deceived by excuses and deceptions from words.

Noble Phantasm

**Vector Change: The Deadly Basics of Science**

Rank: A; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person

It is an Extrasensory Perception close to a Mystic Body. It allows for control over the direction and amount of every vector that hits the user's body.


	30. Chapter 29: Descend into Darkness

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you for your review, **coronadomontes**.

Chapter 29: Descend into Darkness

Dietlinde would never admit it, but she did felt a bit nervous. Being in the base of an enemy was always dangerous. And she had been just "invited", so had nothing prepared if they decided to attack her. If that even would make a difference. She doubted that even Brawler had anticipated _four_ Master-Servant pairs. And none of them looked normal. There was the mysterious cloaked Lancer, a cowboy, a blue-flaming demonic beast, a ninja, a clergyman, a white-clothed hunter, a handsome youth and a red knight. If she hadn't been sure, half of them had to be Masters, she would have believed to be in a room with eight Servants. Nine, if she counted her own.

Even the fact that half of them had Command Seals didn't really helped in this regard as Brawler had told her that there actually had been Servants summoning their own Heroic familiar.

Dietlinde shifted uncomfortably as she felt the gazes of the people, studying her. Especially the cowboy's hawk-like eyes seemed to out-right pierce her with their gaze.

"She does not look like much", the mentioned Archer complained. Or at last she assumed him to be one of the Knights of the Bow as no magus worth anything would use a firearm and history did had show some famous gun wielders.

"That doesn't matter", the clergyman interrupted her thoughts. "All that matters is the strength of her Servant."

"Oh? Then what do you want from me specifically?", Brawler of Black asked them. "Do you want to build an alliance?"

"Hehehe, looks like he is spot on", the ninja laughed and the clergy man nodded.

"Let us first introduce ourselves probably: I am Death and these are my brothers Famine, Pestilence and War and our Servants Saber, Archer and Berserker of Black. You have already met Lancer." Dietlinde nodded. So her presumption had been confirmed. But more importantly…

"Death…", she mused. "That is not your real name, is it?"

"No it is not. But after becoming dead apostles we gave up our original names." Cold fear found its way into her heart. Dead apostle. Vampires. She had never met one but she had heard the stories about them. Regarding humans as food and eradicating whole cities just for the sake of amusement. And in front of her were four dead apostle with Blood Resonance. Would she even survive this night?!

"What are you going to do, if we do not want to become a part of your alliance?", Brawler asked skeptical. They were enemies in this Holy Grail War, after all. There was no reason for them to let his Master go. Death sighed as he understood the implications.

"As much as it hurts me to say, we cannot let an enemy walk around and possible build an alliance with someone else." In other words, they would kill her. Though such a sentiment actually didn't surprised her. They were dead apostle after all. What surprised her was the fact that she received assistance from someone she would have never thought: Saber of Black. The Servant in question turned against his own Master.

"Are you going to step so low as to attack a defenseless damsel with superior numbers?", he asked with spite in his voice. Death did not backed down but continued to met his Servant's stern gaze.

"No I am not", he denied. "All we need to do is defeat her Servant and she will have to give up her claim on the Holy Grail, unless she makes a contract with a new Heroic Spirit. Considering the nature of the Grail Wars, forcing her to withdraw might actually save her life." So they would not kill her. That was reassuring. But…

"I cannot withdraw yet!", she proclaimed. "And I cannot die, either. I have to continue until I have made my brother pay for what he did!"

"I'd rather not die, too", her Servant added. "I accepted the summon so I could fight against strong opponents. It would be a pity if I had to resign so early."

"Then will you become members of our alliance?", Death questioned. "Your chances of receiving the Holy Grail will be reduced drastically, but your chances of survival and getting revenge on your brother will increase." She did not needed to ponder much about this offer.

"Yes. I, Dietlinde Edelfelt, gladly accept your proposal!"

* * *

The girl with short brown hair woke up in an unfamiliar place. A dark room with no light getting past the closed curtains. She was laying in a really big bed with black sheets.

"Where am I?", she asked to no one in particular. "What happened?" Tiredly she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, or rather tried to.

"Wa-wa-wa? She stopped short as her gaze fell upon her right arm. Or rather, where her right arm was supposed to be. The right sleeve of her shirt fell down straight onto the bed. Like in trance the girl reached out towards it and squeezed it. She was met with no resistance. Slowly she curled up the sleeve, inch by inch, until she finally revealed a bandaged stump. Her eyes widened, her breath stopped and a scream got stuck in her throat. Then she promptly passed out.

Assassin of Red materialized and walked over to the bed. He took the wrinkled blankets and covered her with them, again. Then he walked out of the room towards Kirei's.

"The girl has regained consciousness for a short time", he reported to his Master. "But she passed out soon afterwards." Kirei nodded.

"Thank you, Assassin", he acknowledged his report. "Please tell me, if she wakes up, again."

Usually when there were witnesses they would hypnotize them to forget what happened and send them back to where they came from. A ruthless mage would kill them instead or feed them to his Servant, if he also happened to be a Master. He would not do that. As a messenger of God's word it was his duty to look over his lambs.

But they could not just erase her memory and sent her back to her family, either. That was because of her missing arm. It was surprisingly easy to cover up a death or even dozens. As long as there were no bodies found the number could even reach the hundreds and there still would be no problems. However, a child that had been declared "missing" suddenly turning up with one limb less? Now that would create headlines in every newspaper not just in Japan but maybe even the whole world, not to forget the thorough police investigation that was sure to follow. That was why erasing her memories would not solve their problems.

And there was one more fact that gave reason for concern. The school uniform that the girl was wearing was the exact same one that he had seen Rin with. Tokiomi had urged him to find out, who this girl was, probably because of this reason.

"Master", Assassin interrupted his musings, "are you enjoying yourself?" Kirei was taken off guard by that question.

"What do you mean, Assassin?" But the silent killer did not answered to his question.

"It seemed to be just my imagination. Do not fret over it." He turned into Spirit From and proceeded with the tasks his Master had given him.

* * *

Berserker was in deep trouble. Or, to be precise, a hole in the ground. He was not wearing his usual attire but instead civilian clothes. Well, except for the straight jacket that forced his arms behind his back. Next to him in the dark sat cross-legged a middle-aged man with square glasses and an impressive moustache, wearing worker's clothes. And there was some boy with red years carrying a tray of food.

"Hey, I thought you'd get hungry soon, so I brought you something to eat", the child said with an evil smile. Berserker snorted.

"Hungry, my ass", he responded. "There's plenty of my chain of fate left!" Now Kariya noticed the chain that was attached to the hole in his chest. Similar to the hole that he had seem him with when he had summoned him.

The child's expression suddenly became serious.

"You cannot tell the passed time in this hole, can you?", he asked.

"Huh?"

"Seventy hours have already passed since you've entered this hole. Faster people would have already become a Hollow by now." The boy turned around.

"One last thing, the last corrosion… is not like the others." Right on cue multiple mouths appeared on the chain segments wiggling around. Berserker panicked.

"All in one?!", he screamed his voice filled with frightened disbelieve. "Stop, quit that!" Now the segments started to crumble and fall apart one after another. Horrified Berserker watched them shatter up until the last one inside his hole.

"STOOOOOP!" Some white substance looking like Ether Clumps shot out of his mouth and eyes and began to encase his head all the while Berserker screamed like their was no tomorrow in the centre of a whirlwind that carried the dust around him by an unknown force.

Kariya looked at the scene inside his dreams. Was that how Berserker got his Mad Enhancement? Being forced to stay in a hole in the ground while some outside force was eating away his life? They were truly a lot more alike than he would have ever imagined.

* * *

The brown haired girl sleeping in the church began to stir. Slowly she opened her eyes. It took a moment for her to orientate herself. But when she did she started up and looked at her right arm.

A high-pitched scream filled the church.

"I think I do not need to inform you that our guest is awake", Assassin of Red told his Master. "Why? Because…"

"… I clearly could hear it for myself, couldn't I?", Kirei interrupted him. Assassin stared at him for a moment.

"Yes, you could", he conceded, "shall we wait for Risei?"

"No, I doubt that will be necessary. Besides, it wouldn't do to keep her horrified about her state forever." Assassin nodded and turned again into Spirit Form while Kirei walked over to the guest room.

"Good Morning", he greeted the startled girl who had not heard him coming in. "I see you are finally awake." The girl hid behind her covers while staring at him with fearful eyes.

"Now, now, there is no need for that. I am not going to do anything to you. My name is Kotomine Kirei. You are currently residing in the living quarters of the Fuyuki Church. And as long as you are inside, no one is going to harm you." She did not looked very convinced as she glanced over to the place where her arm used to be.

"Yes, your missing arm certainly arouses some questions. Do you know how it happened?" The girl quietly shook her head. No surprise there. In Assassin's report of the events of last night, the girl already had been unconscious, when Caster reclaimed her Command Seals. It would be interesting to know, if she could remember the times when she had been Caster's vessel.

"What is the last thing you remember?", he asked her. But the girl stayed silent.

"You really are not good with children, are you?", Risei, who just had entered the room asked. "As someone who does not have any experience raising children, you should not expect her to open up to you that easily." This was obviously a jab at the fact that Kirei gave away his own daughter after her mother died or rather, committed suicide in front of his eyes. However, there was a lot more darkness to this story than Risei ever guessed.

Regardless, Risei sat down onto the bed next to the girl and began to talk. It was about small, unimportant things, but he continued in a gentle, smoothing voice and after some time she started to speak up for the first time. From there onward she opened up more and more to the priest and even started to talk about herself.

Her name was Hatogaya Kotone. She went indeed to the same school as Rin. She even was a classmate of her and would be "really glad if Rin would consider her something like a friend." The fact that Risei had known Rin's father for a long time and even met the little girl once, definitely helped talking with their guest. However…

'You seem displeased, Master', Assassin noted, but Kirei shrugged it off.

'I do not feel any different than usual', he claimed, 'please proceed with gathering information on the new Masters and Servants.'

'As you wish.' His Servant dropped the matter and proceeded with the task assigned to him by his Master.

* * *

Berserker of Red and Lancer of Red stood opposite of each other. Both had drawn their weapons and looked stern at their opponent. However, they were not using their Noble Phantasm. Instead of his butcher knife-like sword Berserker wielded a plain katana and Lancer had discarded all of his fancy spears for a simple looking one.

The room they were in looked definitive interesting. The floor was made up out of different colored tiles in different shapes. The colors present were black, white, red and blue and not two adjacent tiles had the same color. The walls and ceiling were completely white, except for two major adjustments. One was a giant window behind which Kariya, Sola-Ui and Kayneth sat, the two latter drinking wine.

Opposite of the window was a giant yellow screen, showing a countdown. It had started by sixty but was now already by eleven and when it reached five, a loud sound could be heard and the color of the screen shifted to red. Berserker shifted his glance to the side. Enough to recognize the color but not enough to lose Lancer out of his sight.

When the counter reached zero, both rushed at each other. However, before they met each other Berserker had to skip to the side, as Lancer suddenly in mid-run retreated backwards all the while shooting bullets at him. The surprising fact was not that he used a gun as a Lancer. Berserker had seen him materializing all kind of different weapons already. Broadswords, normal swords, knives, spears, clubs, rapiers, chain-swords, axes, katana and even some boomerang and brass knuckles. Both the weapons they were using were provided by him.

What was surprising was the fact that his spear somehow had transformed into a gun. That was the first time Lancer had shown to have that kind of ability. But actually that should not really be that unexpected as this guy was coming up with new abilities every day. However, that was what actually made fighting him so interesting. And it was why he had asked to train with him in the first place.

_*/flashback/*_

"Could you repeat that?", Lancer of Red asked. "I think I've got something stuck in my ear."

"As if", Berserker of Red snorted. "I don't think Heroic Spirits can get something stuck in their ear. Except by an opponents attack. So if you did, wouldn't that be really embarrassing?"

"Hm, probably, but seriously, training?! Even discarding the fact that you actually ask_ me _to train _you_ – seriously your stats are abnormal – we are Heroic Spirits. No matter how much we train it doesn't increases our Strength, Endurance, Agility, Mana capacity and don't even let me get started on Luck. All this training would do, is deplete your reserves. If you really want to get stronger, you should have your Master trained!"

"It is not about strength", Berserker denied, "I have plenty of that. However, why does it still seemed like Saver toyed around with me? He only became a bit serious after I crashed him into the wall and even then he didn't seemed to be worried much. Even though one normal hit can sent him flying and a **_Getsuga Tenshou (The Light that Pierces the Heaven)_** sends him packing. Why is that?"

"Well, probably…"

"That was a rhetorical question. The answer is surprisingly easy: It's because he fights unfair."

"Congratulations. Did you came here just so you could whine about that?"

"No, but if I really want to defeat him, I have to learn how to counter him. It did not helped that most of my opponents were straight-up fighters or so weak, it didn't mattered in the end. Saver, however, is different. And so are you for that matter. Using trickery and deception, making your opponent figure out the ace up your sleeve while you still have a joker. That is why I asked you to train me."

"I see, I see. You want to fight against me, so that you'll not be taken by surprise against Saver. Or at last, be able to respond quickly. Okay, why not? But we can't do it often and use the heavy guns because of your Master. Let me quick create a training room for us!"

_*/flashback end/*_

The first time, which previously had been the only one, was just to "ease him in". They had used the same room as this one. When Lancer created it, he had made some additional aspects which would make fighting more difficult. Every sixty seconds the color of the screen would change and if you hit a plate that had the same color as the screen, you would get electrocuted a little. Berserker was forbidden to use his **Air Dance**, of course.

And so Berserker had fought against Lancer utilizing countless different weapons, all the while being careful where to step. He soon noticed that Lancer did not seemed to have the same problem as him, as if he knew where the dangerous plates were. Considering who created the arena in the first place, this was probably true.

Suddenly a bolt of pain went through his feet and he jumped away. This moment used Lancer to change his gun into a spear again and come after his opponent.

How? The screen showed blue and Berserker was sure he had stepped onto a red plate… Another charge of electricity forced Berserker to jump away again. But he got the key to the mystery as soon as Lancer jumped onto the platform which Berserker had been standing on just a moment ago and saw it turn into black. So that was what he meant with "stepping up the game". Very well, that's what he asked for, wasn't it?

Kariya looked impatient at the two fighters.

"Why is Berserker wasting time with training?!", he complained. "If he wanted to fight that badly he should go out and kill Tokiomi!"

"Please have patience", Sola-Ui tried to calm down the Master. "Him training will help him defeat the Tohsaka-Master and ultimately every other Master, winning us the Holy Grail and save Sakura!"

"That's right", he remembered. "I have to save Sakura. Kill Tokiomi and save Sakura."

Kayneth looked over his glass of whine and studied his partner. For some reason or another he had the feeling that Kariya lost more of his rationality with every day the Holy Grail War continued. A bit ironic if you thought about it, since his Servant Berserker was completely sane after he got hit by that Noble Phantasm of Saver of Red. He had to watch over him a bit more closely. If he became a danger to him and his wife he had to take him out, alliance or not.

* * *

It was quiet in the Zenjou-residence. Only the clattering of the tableware made noises. The old couple living in the house consisted of Zenjou Fukita, an old man starting to get gray hair and wrinkles and Midori, a woman who was just as old, but seemed to last a bit better, if her short but still yellow-green hair was any indication. The third person sitting on the table was a young woman, also with light green hairs. But hers were long and flowed towards the ground like water. Her name was Tohsaka Aoi. And next to her was her daughter, Tohsaka Rin. She was refusing to look any of the other assembled people in the eye. Instead she focused on her plate and the foot that was on top of it.

Suddenly the telephone rang. Midori stood up and accepted the call.

"Yes? Zenjou-residence, what can I do for you?"

"Good evening. My name is Kotomine Risei. I would like to talk to Rin, or rather, I have someone here who wants to talk to her."

"Rin, this is for you!", Miss Zenjou shouted. Surprised Rin looked up. She jumped of her chair and ran towards the telephone.

"Mister Kotomine", Midori explained while holding out the receiver. Kotomine? What could the fake priest want from her?

"Hello, Mr. Kotomine. This is Rin."

"Hello, Rin, how are you doing?" No, it wasn't the fake priest, it was the real one.

"I am doing fine, thank you. But why are you calling?"

"There is someone here, who is just eager to talk to you. Please wait a moment." Rin assumed that in the short span of silence the receiver was passed to a second person and she was proven right when she heard a new voice.

"Rin? Rin, are you there?" Rin froze completely and grabbed the receiver strong enough for her knuckles to turn white. No way. That was impossible. That just couldn't be possible.

"Kotone?!", she nearly shouted. "Kotone?! You are alright?!"

"Ehm… Yes, yes, I am. I just wanted to tell you that I am alright, so you won't need to worry anymore."

"Really? That's great… Then when are you coming back to school?"

"Ehm… Mister Kotomine wants to keep me around for some more check-ups just in case."

"I see… then I will be seeing you at school after he is finished?"

"Yes, see you then…" Kotone hang up and Rin did the same. Contrary to what Kotone told her, she was not reassured. If she really was alright, why did she called from the church? Rin was pretty sure that Kotone had been one of Caster's victims, so if she somehow managed to escape and ended up by the church, wouldn't Risei would have erased all her memories and sent her home?

"So, who was it?", Aoi asked her daughter.

"Kotone, a classmate of mine. She was just calling to tell me she is okay."

"You do not sound happy", her mother noticed.

"I think she is hiding something", Rin admitted as she sat down with her grandmother. "When I… when I ran away from home, it was because Kotone was declared missing. I… I just knew it had to do with the Grail Wars and I… I… I…" She burst into tears. "I thought I could save her! But that was all an illusion. Caster is… Caster is…" Rin began to cry and Aoi stood up and pulled her in a comforting hug.

"Well, this is certainly a heart-warming scene."

Lancer of Black walked out of the **Corridor of Darkness** into the living room. Now two things happened. Without turning around Aoi grabbed the startled Rin and picked her up, while the Zenjou reached for something inside their pockets. None of them got far. Two purple lances shot down from above at the old couple, impaled them starting by their heads and pinning the dead bodies onto the chairs, before they could move even an inch. In a second swift motion Lancer overcame the distance between him and Aoi, grabbing both Tohsaka and throwing the adult across the room against the wall.

"Mother!", Rin panicked, as the woman had all her air blown out of her lungs and fell to the ground. But before she could run to her parent, Lancer kept her harshly by her wrist.

"Ouch! Let me go! She pulled and wriggled around and when that did not helped, hammered at the cloaked figure. But the intruder did not let go of her. He didn't even flinched when she bit the hand he was holding her with. Instead he just calmly said:

"After your encounter with Caster I thought you would be a bit more fearful against a Heroic Spirit. We do not want you to meet the same fate as your grandparents know, don't we?" Rin stopped dead in her tracks and shut up as realization dawned upon her. Her face full of dread she slowly turned around towards the table. A red liquid started to flow down the legs of the chairs and created puddles on the ground.

"I have four more of them", Lancer elaborated and in the air behind him appeared his unused spears. "I wonder what I should do with them… ah, there's one." Rin winced as with a crash one of the Lancer shot into telephone and the cupboard it was standing on. "Now the others…"

"…Rin", Aoi managed to squeeze out, before spouting blood, while she held her hand towards her daughter, "please… let her go…"

"I cannot do that", Lancer claimed, "I still need her."

"Please", Rin whimpered with tears in her eyes, "let me go…" For a moment the Knight of the Lance actually seemed to consider her request.

"With pleasure", he finally said. "But then my lances stay here, too." The three dragon-headed spears behind him flew towards Aoi and circled above her. Rin's eyes widened again in terror. "What will it be?"

"…Rin… don't go…", her mother pleaded. Rin looked her mother in the eyes. Even the last bit of courage and composure left her as an endless stream of tears flowed into her eyes. She broke down and wailed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry", she cried. "It's all my fault, I'm sorry…" That was true. It was really all her fault. If she just hadn't gone to Fuyuki City to find Kotone. If she just hadn't insisted on staying. If she hadn't done all this, nothing of this would have happened. Now the Zenjou were dead all thanks to her and her mother might follow. It was all her fault.

Without resistance she let the Servant guide her into a black hole. Before Lancer followed her, he turned around one last time to look at Aoi.

"You have a nice expression there", he said, while his spears dispersed into purple particles of light.

"That is right, hate me. Hate me with all your passion. Hate me, who killed your parents and took your daughter. Hate my Master, who ordered me to do so. Hate the supervisor, who did nothing to stop it. Hate the Holy Grail War. Hate the founders, who created it. Hate your husband for taking part in it and becoming a Master. Hate him for giving away Sakura to the Matou family. Hate the whole world for not caring about a mother trying to keep her children save. And most of all, hate yourself for your own weakness!" With that he vanished into the **Corridor of Darkness** which closed behind him.

* * *

Hi guys and gals.

This is probably the darkest chapter I have written up until now. I really hope you didn't got lulled into a false sense of security by the apparent loss of death in the previous chapters (if we don't count Ryuunosuke that is). After all, I did not just rated this story "M" for swearing.

Also, please tell me if I made the behavior of the people at last somewhat realistic, especially Kotone's. That's my first time writing things like that, after all.

Gahsadokuro Amanojaku


	31. Chapter 30: Bargaining with Demons

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, **Legends Storyteller** and **coronadomontes**.

Chapter 30: Bargaining with Demons

"I am coming, I am coming!", Avenger of Red shouted and ran towards the ringing telephone. Who would be calling at such a time? The others were all asleep. Well, the Masters were. Heroic Spirits did not need to sleep. Though that did not stopped Archer from lazing about on the couch.

"Yes, Avenger – I mean, Tohsaka residence?", she greeted through the speaker.

"They have Rin", a female voice devout of any emotions talked back.

"Wha? Who? When? How? Wait! I am getting Tokiomi!" Panicking Avenger dropped the speaker and ran for the Master of the house. When she barged into his room, he already was dressed. Avenger grabbed his hand while using the second hand to gesticulate wildly.

"Rin, away, telephone, Rin!" Tokiomi could not tell exactly what happened, but for Avenger to mention Rin in such a agitated way was enough for Tokiomi to discard all hesitation and quickly follow the Servant.

"Yes? Tohsaka Tokiomi?", he spoke into the receiver after picking it up and holding it next to his ear.

"Hello, Darling", a familiar voice greeted him.

"Aoi", he recognized, "what happened?"

"Lancer showed up", she retold the events, "he killed my parents and kidnapped Rin." It seems the Zenjou-Residence was not as save as we originally assumed it would be."

"I see. Which Lancer was it?" A short time of silence followed on the other side of the conversation.

"So, the failsafe activated", concluded Aoi finally. "That explains why he was calling himself Lancer of Black." So it was Lancer of Black. That was a problem. He had yet to find the base of some of the new Servants, Lancer being one of them. He could not attack the base and try to rescue Rin. Furthermore it had been Lancer who came to the aid of Dietlinde Edelfelt and her Servant. If it came to a fight, he would be up against at last two Servants. On the bright side, it was rather unlikely for Rin to be killed. Otherwise Lancer's Master would have not his Servant go through all the trouble and kidnap her. He would have let him kill Rin at the Zenjou-residence. But he didn't. So he wanted to use her as leverage against him.

"Thank you for telling me", he said to his wife. "For now we have to wait for the kidnapper to contact us. You should probably come back here or the church, as the Zenjou's home does not appear to be safe anymore."

"Yes, I think I will proceed this way. That means I'll be seeing you soon."

"I'll be waiting."

"Good. Oh, and Darling?"

"Yes?"

"If I'll lose the another one of my children, I won't be able to forgive you." With that she hang up the phone. Slowly Tokiomi put down the receiver as well. So, she wouldn't be able to forgive him, she said…

He clenched his teeth as well as his fist and smashed the latter onto the table the telephone was placed on. Avenger, who for the whole time had been silently standing next to him, jerked back startled.

"To-Tokiomi?", she hesitantly called out towards the magus but he didn't even heard her.

She wouldn't be able to fogive him?! He agreed! If anything happened to Rin he would not be able to forgive himself! And not just because she was the only heir now that he had given Sakura to the Matou. His children where the one thing in his life that he valued above all other. Above his own life, and above reaching the Root. He would gladly give up the Holy Grail, if it meant getting his daughter back. And that was probably exactly what his enemies were trying to achieve. He would find out more when they got in touch with him.

That did not meant, he would just idle sit around while he was waiting, though. Just because Assassin of Red had yet to find the base of Lancer of Black, it did not meant, he wouldn't be able to. After all, his bugs were great for scanning big areas. They were small and so harder to notice, came in large amounts, so he could easily sacrifice some and as they were insects, it was harder to fool them with mysteries that were meant for human. He was sure, if Assassin used his whole hive to search for Rin, he would certainly find her.

* * *

Tokiomi got surprised two times. The first was, when Assassin of Red told him, he could tell where Rin had been taken to. Before her departure Assassin had placed one of his bugs with her. A female one. Following her sent his male bugs could easily pinpoint the location. As for the second one…

"Ah, get off, get off!", Tokiomi heard Avenger shouting from his garden. When he came looking for the reason, he saw the Servant getting attacked by a single crow. Even though the irregular demon frantically waved her arms around, she was not able to hit her attacker. How something like this was possible, as she was a Heroic Spirit, escaped his mind.

"Shut up. You're annoying", Archer of Red complained and pointed his gun at the bird. However…

"Wait!", Assassin of Red interrupted him. "Why? Because this is not an animal but a familiar." Tokiomi perked up. A familiar, now? Could it be…

"Assassin", Tokiomi told the Servant, "please bring me this familiar." At once the silent killer obeyed and in the blink of an eye he had returned back to him, the crow in his hands. Avenger looked relieved, which caused Archer to commend:

"Tch. Of course I had to be teamed up with the one Servant who gets defeated by a fucking bird."

"Hey!", she shouted but the following part came a bid more quietly. "Stupid birds."

Suddenly Assassin threw the crow away. Not one second to early, as the bird turned white transformed into something like a stone plate. However, no form of attack came from it as it fell into the grass. Just to make sure, Assassin did not picked it up by himself, but sent some of his bugs at it. They swarmed around it, hived it into the air and carried it over to their master. Assassin of Red accepted it and studied the plate closely. It's color was not exactly white, but rather a very pale brown and it was too light to be made out of stone. If Assassin guessed right, the material used to create it was bone. But like plate made out of stone it had words carved into it. Or, to be precise, Kanji.

"We have your daughter", Assassin read out. "If you want her back, use two of your Command Seals and order your Servant to kill Assassin of Red and Avenger of Red." The aforementioned girl tensed noticeably together with her Master, but the silent Killer had yet to finish:

"After your Servant has carried out this orders, use your third Command Seal and order Archer of Red to kill himself." The Knight of the Bow only replied with a 'Tch!', while Assassin just stared at the head of the Tohsaka family emotionless.

"What actions do you want to take?", he asked him. Technically he was the Servant of Kirei. But since the priest was only acting on Tokiomi's orders himself, it did not matter, if he referred to him for instructions. It was actually the reason why their alliance functioned the way it did. In a coalition between independent Masters, one always had to be careful about getting stabbed in the back by one's partners. And there could be disputes about the course of action to take. But they differed. Both Kirei and Volquart subordinated themselves under Tokiomi. Even though the latter would try to challenge him for the Holy Grail regardless once all their foes were defeated, Tokiomi was still the dominant person. And if he lost their decisive fight, he still would accept the result.

Right now, however, their adventure seemed to come to a premature end. There was only three possible outcomes:

First, Tokiomi ignoring the black-mailing. But what he gathered from the man's behavior, he still put his daughter before anything else. So that was rather unlikely. The second option was for him to follow the orders of the kidnappers. Then Avenger and he could retaliate in two possible ways. Either accept their fate or team up with each other and fight against Archer. If Kirei did not told him different he would chose the first option and Avenger doesn't seemed to be someone who would sacrifice a child for her own goals. His reasoning was more or less proved when Avenger covered her face with her hat and muttered in despair:

"Really, looks like that's it. There are no hopes and dreams anymore." Tokiomi's face did not betrayed any emotions while he thought about the options he had.

"I am sorry", he finally said, "but I won't be following those orders." Both Volquart and his Servant stared at him in utter disbelief with their mouth open, while the others reactions were a bit more reserved. Assassin did not showed any kind of emotion, while Archer raised an eyebrow. But Avenger didn't stayed shocked for long and instead switched to rage.

"Are you going to sacrifice your daughter, just for your stupid Holy Grail?!", she screamed outraged. Tokiomi just looked at her calmly.

"Right now the possibility that Rin is still alive is lower than the possibility that I will gain the Holy Grail", he explained.

'So that is what he plans, realized Assassin. Certainly, when someone took one of your precious people hostage, normal people would not be able to do resist at all or risk their precious person getting harmed. However, there was no guaranty that the person would be unharmed or even alive, if you complied to all the wishes of the kidnapper. But Tokiomi was a Master in the Holy Grail War. In the worst case scenario he could use the wish from the Holy Grail to revive his daughter. That was why he refused to give in so easily. Still, he should know that there are different ways to hurt a person than just killing them, especially a child. That was probably the reason, why he quickly added:

"If I am to be expected to give up on one chance to get Rin back, I need insurance that the other one has a hundred percent possibility of success. I would like to request a meeting between us, in which we clarify the details of the bargain and I can verify the trustworthiness of the opposing party!"

Suddenly the plate of bone turned back into a crow, escaped the grip of Assassin and flew up into the air. Tokiomi was sure that the kidnappers would receive every single word of what he said. Now he had to wait, again. Though he wondered, why the message had been coming so quick. He had thought they would take their time to hinder his ability to make logical decisions by adding psychological stress… perhaps they were concerned about Assassin of Red or rather his skills with reconnaissance and sneaking. Were they afraid, he would find out the location of their hideout and get past their bounded fields to kill all the Masters?

* * *

The kidnappers took their time answering to his request this time. Meanwhile Aoi already had arrived. They did not exchanged words, though, but she instead went to her room at once and shut herself in. Tokiomi let her be. It was not like she could do anything in this situation. As neither could he. The only one who could actually act was Assassin of Red, surveying the enemies base, in case an opportunity to rescue Rin showed itself. It didn't. Not until the evening, when another bone plate in the form of a crow was delivered to him. This one told him to meet with them in the Fuyuki City Park alone to discuss the matters. At once. They probably didn't wanted to give him time to make traps beforehand. So he told Archer, Volquart and Avenger to stay behind and went to the Fuyuki Park.

When he arrived, the kidnappers already waited for him. Four figures, just barely illuminated by the light of the street lambs. However, it was enough to recognize Dietlinde Edelfelt, Volquart's sister. This came actually as no surprise, considering that the last time he saw her had been with Lancer of Black. Seeing her here only confirmed, what he already suspected.

The second person he could identify was the dead apostle in the red armor, the fake Sakoshimo. He already knew that he was still alive thanks to the Assassin's information gathering. Though he did not knew how he did it, or if the same could be said for the Servant, which he used against the Kayneth-Alliance. It was a pity, but Assassin's bugs tended to not come back once they went into their hideout so he did not knew anything about what happened inside.

Next to them were a white hunter and a black ninja. The only thing he knew about them, was that they attacked the Matou-residence. The ninja was killed by Assassin of Black and the huntsman never walked out of the residence. That probably meant that they were the mentioned siblings of the fake Sakoshimo. Though if they were, where was the fourth one? Dietlinde was definitively not their "brother" so they had to have at last one more member in their team. A team of probably five Master/Servant pairs.

Tokiomi did not showed it but inwardly he resigned. Against those numbers he could not hope to prevail. The best solution was actually him complying to their wishes. Then fear grabbed his heart as he realized, if the kidnappers had killed his daughter already and had been trying to bluff him into submission, he had no way of getting her back. No matter how strong he was, he doubted that Archer could fight against five Servants on his own. Especially since his Noble Phantasm had a time limit. And Avenger and Assassin were just not that suited to deal with Servants. So with every fiber of his being he hoped that Rin was still alive and the kidnappers did not just lured him here to dispose of him.

The only thing that gave him confidence was the fact, if they killed him Archer of Red could still make a contract with someone else. Even if Aoi had no Magic Circuits she was still a valid candidate and if she teamed up with another Master, she might be able to retrieve Rin back from the dead. Saver of Red's team was one possibility. They had build an alliance before and even stayed under the same roof for a short time. Furthermore his Master had no wish on his own, so he would probably be easy convinced to use his wish to bring Rin back from the dead. Aoi was also a childhood friend of Kariya, so she might be able to sway him to her side. The vampires just had to take into accout those probabilities! Yes, this thought alone kept him from showing any emotion on his face, while he was walking towards the group of people.

"Greetings", Tokiomi spoke up after he got close enough to them. "I am Tohsaka Tokiomi, but I guess you already know this."

"Indeed", the Master of Brawler responded with a cocky smile on her face. "It seems that once again the Edelfelt and Tohsaka cross paths in the Holy Grail War!" Well, considering they both were already married, he doubted it would play out the same way it did after the third Holy Grail War.

"Hi, there", the one with the ninja outfit chimed in, "I am Gaichuu Kotaru and this are Kirainakuuki Fuyita" – the albino huntsman – " and Sakoshimo Hiroko." Tokiomi was honestly surprised when he heard the third one. Was he really going to stick to a name that everybody knew was fake? Not that he couldn't understand the desire to hide one's name in combat situations, but shouldn't he at last make some efforts to pass it off as his real name?!

Regardless, Gaichuu has yet to finish:

"Oh, by the way, if you're wondering, I am the Master of Lancer of Black!" So he was the Master of the one who kidnapped Rin. This did not necessarily meant, he was the one who planned it, though. For all he knew, it could have been the missing member. However, all this was unimportant right now.

"So, I guess, we should address what we came here for", Tokiomi stated. "Or do you have something else to mention beforehand?"

"Man, do you have to talk so formal?!", Gaichuu complained. The fake Sakoshimo rolled his eyes and smacked his head.

"Just start already!", he demanded. "I don't want to waste more time than actually necessary!"

"Fine", Gaichuu pouted, before straightening himself and addressing Tokiomi: "You know, we were thinking a little bit about our demands and ultimately decided to just change it into 'Using all of your Command Seals to let Archer commit suicide'." The way he looked at Dietlinde as he said that made it clear, who had desired to change the conditions in the first place.

"Not to be rude", Tokiomi interjected, "but should you not first prove your claims?"

"Oh, right", Gaichuu admitted. "Lancer!" A black portal opened behind him and Lancer of Black walked out of it, surrounded by six levitating spears. And in front of him: Rin. Her eyes widened as she recognized the person in front of her.

"Father!", she shouted and wanted to ran towards her parent, but was stopped dead in her tracks as one of the spears impeded itself into the ground in front of her.

"You indeed have what you claim to possess", Tokiomi acknowledged.

"Of course! We always keep our promises", Gaichuu declared proudly, while puffing out his chest. "However, the same can not be said about you…" A swarm of crows took loudly flight, at the same time a loud startled cry could be heard. When Tokiomi looked towards the origin of the noise, he was just in time to see a figure falling out of the trees and hitting the ground.

"Ouch…", the figure muttered, "stupid birds!" Tokiomi couldn't believe his eyes. Avenger?! But he told her to stay behind! Why did she came? Why? This could compromise Rin's safety!

"Avenger", he addressed her and the irregular demon turned around to face him, "what are you doing here?!" Avenger jumped up.

"I couldn't just sit around and do nothing while Rin's in danger!", she explained. "I just had to do something!"

"And that is why you decided to go against my orders and follow me?"

"B-but I had to do something!" Tokiomi snorted.

"Frankly, what can you do, _Avenger_?!" The way he emphasized her Servant class, made her wince.

"Nothing", he answered the question for her.

"Even though you have high parameters for a Servant of the Avenger class, that is all. The only skill you have is only useful to increase your parameters, while your Noble Phantasm is of no use at all. Against proper Heroic Spirits you can not even serve as a distraction."

Avenger looked more miserable with every single word. Now someone could argue that Tokiomi was unnecessarily cruel towards the irregular Servant, since it wouldn't change anything regarding the fact that she_ was_ here. On the other hand the captors could argue that he had broken the agreement and kill Rin on the spot. So he had to proof that he did not deliberatively brought her with him by pointing out that it would be completely illogical for him to do so. It also worked to remind the enemy that their true goal was to get Archer out of commission and not the weaker Avenger, which wouldn't happen if they killed everybody present right now. This in mind he turned back towards the Masters:

"Please excuse the interruption. It seems that my associates to not understand the meaning of business."

"Stop stalling!", the fake Sakoshimo raged. "We already told you our conditions! Just shut up and do what we told you – or watch your little daughter getting impaled by a lot of sharp and pointy sticks!" Blood sprouted out of his arm and turned into a battle axe.

"Or do you prefer, if I do it myself?!" Tokiomi didn't even flinched.

"You have still failed to give me insurance that both Rin and me are going to be able to walk away unharmed", he reminded them. "From both the Masters and the Servants!" Gaichuu sighed and Fuyita held out some pieces of paper.

"Just what you expect of a magi of the Tohsaka family", he acknowledged as he accepted one of them. Next to him materialized Archer of Black and imitated him. The same with Brawler of Black, Lancer of Black, Dietlinde and the fake Sakoshimo. They all took one piece of paper each and more or less quietly signed them, before giving them back to Fuyita who collected them. When all were finished, Fuyita walked over towards Tokiomi and wordlessly gave them to him.

'Self-Geis Scrolls', Tokiomi realized, reading them. Yes, with these they would not be able to attack him and Rin once he used all his Command Seal to make Archer kill himself.

"Thank you, this is are certainly the insurance I was talking about. However, you are still missing two things."

"What the hell are you talking about?!", raged the fake Sakoshimo. "We have your fucking daughter! Why do you think you can demand anything?!"

Gaichuu sighed while Brawler of Black actually chuckled. It was true. If it weren't for the fact that Lancer had a little girl at spear point, one could think that Tokiomi was the one black-mailing them. They outnumbered him badly, yet he controlled the flow of the conversation. The reason for that was simple. A dead Archer was more useful for them than a dead Rin or Tokiomi. And that even though Tokiomi did not showed it, he cared for his daughter which they knew. As long as he could be sure she would be unharmed, he would do what they wanted. So Famine asked the head of the Tohsaka family, what exactly he had been missing.

"First, your brother and his Servant. As long as they do not sign these Self-Geis Scrolls, they can still act against us." Fuyita held his hand out towards Gaichuu, who pouted and reluctantly gave his brother a twenty pound note. Fuyita accepted it and turned around to face his own Servant.

"Switch with Lancer", he spoke for the first time. Archer of Black didn't liked to be degraded to Rin's watchdog, but did not objected. He walked next to the girl, got out his gun and pointed at her. Not needing an order Lancer put let his spears disperse and vanished into a black portal.

"Damn, your information gathering really is good", Gaichuu commented. "So, what is the other one? You know, the second thing we've missed!"

"That would be Mister Sakoshimo's Servant." The dead apostle stared at him dumbly, before Gaichuu started to laugh.

"Oh, right, right. Please Wa-Sakoshimo, show him Berserker." Tokiomi perked up. Did he just slipped up with the name? But Tokiomi's thought process was interrupted, when next to the dead apostle a demonic figure clad in blue flames appeared.

"See?", pointed the Master. "It's Berserker. So, no need for him to sign a Geis Scroll, right?" The sarcastic tone in which he said this had Tokiomi blink in surprise. Was he trying to trick him? Or did he really not knew how to turn off the **Mad Enhancement**?

Suddenly a small figure appeared. There had been no sound, no rustling, no movements, no wind, no blur, no flash of light, no presence, no killing intent, absolutely no indication for the person to appear. The red-haired person suddenly was there, standing in front of Rin and hugging her tightly. How he got past the dead apostle, magi and even the Servants – one of them right next to him – without anybody noticing, they couldn't comprehend. However, none of them pondered about this for long, as the same moment he appeared, all around him and Rin materialized countless Black Keys, shooting in all directions. The attack came so unexpected, out of the blue and so close that even Archer of Black, a Heroic Spirit, could not react, as one sword cut through his gun and he was turned into a human - well, spiritual - pincushion.

And then there was chaos, literally. The dead apostle shattered to avoid the attack, Brawler of Black grabbed his Master and jumped high into the air. Berserker of Black charged at the newcomer, instantly incinerating any Black Keys that touched him. All the while Tokiomi used a Command Seal to summon his Servant. Assassin of Red made his presence known and threw Japanese kunai at Berserker of Black. Avenger was the only one to did nothing, since she was completely dumbfounded.

But nobody had eyes for her with what the boy did next. While he was embracing Rin, he did not used his hands to hold her. The reason for that was simple: He was already carrying something in both hands. In one hand a book, in the other a piece of paper. And right after the appearance of the swords, he pushed the latter down towards the ground shouting:

"**_The New Colossus (Mother of Exiles)_**!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

I hope you like how I handled Tokiomi. As I always mention, I am not that good with keeping someone in character and now Tokiomi has been put into a situation he had never been in before. So, while on the outside he is calm and professional, one the inside he's rather emotional.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	32. Chapter 31: Fallen Divinity

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, **Q'Fox**, **coronadomontes**, **Planeshunter** and **Nanashi The Lord of the Sky**.

I forgot to put it into the A/N last chapter but **Legend Storyteller** and now even **Planeshunter** have brought my attention towards the fact that my interpretation of Archer's Noble Phantasm is not entirely correct. I apologize for that. Usually I would change that but considering how many chapters I already wrote and how often he fights with his ability, I don't know how to change that without completely rewriting half of the story. I hope you enjoy Fate One Savior regardless.

Also, a warning: Because of all those Servants fighting and thus the high number of parameter charts this chapter appears a lot longer than it actually is. (But the word count for the actual chapter is still higher than the A/N and some of my other chapters.) This is why I also tried a new formatting for the Servant parameters to make them shorter. If you liked the previous one better, please tell me and I will change it back.

Chapter 31: Fallen Divinity

"**_The New Colossus (Mother of Exiles)_**!"

The earth around both children shifted and shot upwards, engulfing them completely, pushing away the attacking Berserker of Black and forcing Brawler of Black to jump away in mid air. But the pile of dirt was not just gaining high, but also increased in width, forcing even Tokiomi to run away, the same time Archer of Red appeared through a inter-dimensional rift created by the Command Seal.

Then the soil started to form a figure, while becoming smooth and more uniform in color. But because the figure was so ridiculous tall the light of the street lambs was not enough to illuminate it and so they had no idea what it looked like. This however did not stopped Berserker of Black from screaming madly and running up the summoning, illuminating the stone under his feet in an eerie blue.

Archer of Red activated his electrode and flew into the air with black vortexes as wings to block an air blade that Brawler of Black had sent against his Master and reflect it right back at its owner, who already cancelled it out with a second one.

The albino soared through the sky towards him, only to quickly have to change his route, less he got hit by a beam of light coming out of Archer of Black's mouth. Avenger of Red finally broke out of her stupor and jumped fist-raised at Archer of Black. But before she reached him a bunch of rats attacked her – only to fall pray to a swarm of Assassin of Red's insects, letting Avenger continue unhindered. Archer of Black, however, turned around and the beam of light cut through the air. Avenger spun in mid-air and flopped over the attack like a pole-vaulter.

Meanwhile the fake Sakoshimo created an axe out of his own blood and together with Gaichuu ran towards the Tohsaka Master. The person in question took out his jeweled staff and pointed it at the dead apostle.

"_Intensive Einäscherung!_" A stream of flames shot out of the staff, but both vampires quickly moved to the side and again charged at him with only the tiniest bit having been slowed down. Tokiomi followed Gaichuu's movements with his staff, while throwing a bunch of gems against the fake Sakoshimo, who put his axe in front of him, to absorb most of the impact. It may have halted him, but this opportunity used Gaichuu to sent out cockroaches, which attacked from all sides simultaneously.

Suddenly a whirlwind soared around him, blowing away all the insects as Brawler of Red, the origin of the irregular wind currents, blew away Berserker of Black from the head of the statue he just reached and shouted 'Give it orders!' towards the hesitant Akage, before changing directions and fly back to Tokiomi.

"R-right. Attack!", acknowledge the youngest Master and as a result a great golden light illuminated the upper body of the gigantic figure.

'You've got to be kidding me!'

This and similar thoughts appeared inside the heads of everybody who had instinctively looked towards the source of the light. As it turned out, the object creating the light was a giant solid torch held high above the head of the statue by a large stone arm. The arm belonged to a tall woman with a giant stone book in her left hand and an aureole on top of her head in which Akage and Rin were now standing in. Yes, even those that were close to the base and thus could not make out detailed features, recognized instantly what the boy had summoned: a giant Statue of Liberty!

But with that not enough, suddenly the womanly figure twisted slightly to the right, reached back with her right arm and in a swift motion – a lot quicker then what you would expect from such a big stature – crashed the stone torch into the earth, where Berserker had been just standing moments before, nearly crushing him. Then she dragged the torch over the earth and War had to run away quickly, less he get buried by the big wave of rubble.

Meanwhile Berserker of Black ran atop the statue again. The stone woman straightened itself and as the Servant reached her mid-section, abrupt twisted to the left, leaving the mad warrior with no footing in the air, before smashing the giant stone book against him, throwing him through the air a second time.

While War had been forced to retreat thanks to the summoned construct, Brawler of Black literally threw his Master at Tokiomi and himself engaged Brawler of Red. He decided to not fight against Archer of Red on purpose. This was not because his Noble Phantasm made it supposedly impossible for anybody to hit him, he was sure he could find a counter against that with time. No, he wanted to fight against Brawler of Red, because he yet had to fight against her and with his Master's fixation on Volquart, he was sure to fight his alliance in the future. And so he used _Geppou_ to jump through the air towards the female Servant. She noticed him and changed her course to face him.

The Master of Brawler of Black, which had been thrown by her own Servant was flying through the air. However, he had not done this without her consent. In fact, she had asked him to do so. As she was falling she took out a small jeweled fan swung it around and shouted:

"_Himmel Feger!_" At once a concentrated gust of wind traveled in direction of the Tohsaka magus. The person in question twirled his staff around and as the air current reached him, guided it to the side with a flaming strike towards the side, burning the ground.

Dietlinde landed on the ground, did a front roll, quickly turned around and swiftly waved her fan and conjured a stream of wind and used it to directed a wave of flame to the side, setting a group of trees aflame. The Edelfelt Master stood up and sent another blast of air at her opponent, which he again lead aside and quickly followed up with an attack of his own, which she dispersed in turn. Both magi studied their opponent for a moment, before again throwing spells around, all the while trying to keep a watchful eye at their surrounding.

Brawler of Red ran towards her black counterpart in mid-air, fist raised. But as she reached him, he suddenly jumped back using the air as a foothold. Quickly she gathered wind in her palms and threw it after her enemy, but he shouted "_Kamisori_" and shot in a zigzagging motion around her, so fast that he left a white glow behind. Not faster than Brawler of Red's eyes were able to track, but still fast enough that she nearly not managed to spin around and bring her arms up in time as he shouted out the name of his attack:

"_Shigan!_" As fast as a one could pull the trigger of a gun, Brawler of Black stabbed her with his index finger, leaving behind a bullet shaped hole in her arm. Brawler of Red did not took this without retaliating and the offender had to quickly retreat to not be hit by her whirling fists and the small tornado that followed.

"_Rankyaku!_"

He kicked in mid-air so fast, that the pushed air shot towards his opponent in a blade of wind. It hit the whirlwind in front of Brawler of Red and dispersed it, but luckily it still managed to push the air blade to the side, so that she didn't got cut. Now she closed the distance, only to suddenly fly backwards again. Just before Brawler of Black shouted "_Shigan Ougan_" and assaulted her with dozens of the previous _Shigan_, pulling his hands back and fourth as fast as a gatling gun.

But all of his attacks missed because she already had retreated, before he even began with his attack. So, she had really good instincts. Brawler of Black smiled. It was such a pity she wasn't even remotely able to reach his skill. How someone with no martial arts training had been summoned as Brawler was beyond him… Lancer of Black had theorized it was because her Master was a Servant himself. Speaking of him, where was he?!

"**_Höllenzwang (To Call upon the Devil)_**! **_Llibre de meravelles (The Lord Holds His Hands Above Me)_**!"

There! Above them all on a levitating book stood Saver of Red, two books in his hand. The first one materialized a black poodle that rushed at him. Brawler of Black sent an air blade against it as the second book multiplied by twenty seven and positioned itself around him in a giant circle. The dog dispersed when it got hit but it reassembled itself right afterwards and together with Brawler of Red forced Brawler of Black to retreat. Saver of Red however, had yet to finish. He took out two other books and shouted:

"**_Dr. Fausts vierfacher Höllenzwang (To Control the Ghosts of the Four Elements)_**! _Terra! Ventus! Aqua! Ignis!_"

At once a rhino made out of earth, an eagle made out of air, a snake made out of water and a lion made out fire appeared. The eagle and snake he mentally directed towards Avenger of Red to help her against Archer of Black. She was holding herself quite well considering her opponent, though. The rhinoceros was to help Assassin of Black to deal with Fuyita, while the lion assisted his Master against the burning Berserker.

Now you may ask, why he didn't choose to make the _water_ snake deal with the _fire_ demon? Well, this was supernatural fire and thus probably not as easy to extinguish as normal one. Also he had already knew of at last one guy who could heat up water enough with _normal_ fire to vaporize it. So, he choose fire. After all, the only thing that was even more difficult to burn than water was fire.

Suddenly Saver of Red had to jump away as a white flash shot from the sky and destroyed the book he had been standing on just before.

"**_Ġāyat al-ḥakīm wa aḥaqq al-natīǧatain bi-'l-taqdīm (The aim of the wise and the primacy of the worthier of the two arts)_**! _Momsek Al-A'aennah!_", yelled Saver of Red while shifting in his free-fall to avoid a second air-strike.

Once he finished directly under him a chariot pulled by four goats appeared. Saver of Red landed on top of it, grabbed the reigns and gave them the order to charge through the sky just in time to avoid a third attack. A fourth one he did not evade, but absorbed it with **_Als ich ein kleiner Junge war (Not Everything Seen by Children Should be Told to Children)_**. The same happened with the next one. Then however five purple lances with dragon heads appeared out of thin air and circled around him. Saver of Red's eyes widened and he jumped off the chariot as Lancer of Black smashed down in a white flash of light while the surrounding spears simultaneously pierced the place Saver of Red had been standing just a moment before.

The chariot and the goats dispersed into a rain of golden sparks, while Saver himself did not managed to escape unscratched either. He might have escaped the centre one, but one of the outer ones managed to cut him at the leg, drawing a large wound and dispelling the illusion from **_El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (These Are no Windmills)_**. But Saver of Red had no time to reapply it, as Lancer of Black quickly gathered his spears and surrounded by winds charged at the falling Servant. However, he did not even tried to. Instead he tightly grabbed the book in his hand and at once pointed it towards the enemy while chanting:

"_At-Tawa'man!_"

The air in between them started to shimmer. Lancer hit it with the peak of his spear and in an explosion of invisible shockwaves a figure appeared, blocking the polearm. The Knight of the Lance froze in disbelief as he recognized it. In front of him levitated a person in a black robe that hid all his features. However, what really shocked Lancer was the weapon the new enemy used to block his strike: a purple lance with the head of a dragon at its peak. Not to mention the five additional spears that hovered in the air behind. Yes, the one foiling his attack was no other than himself.

Quickly he positioned his spare lances vertically in front of him to block the shooting weapons from his copy. To think that Saver of Red had still manage to keep such a powerful ability hidden… For sure, Saver of Red deserved the title of the most dangerous Servant in this Holy Grail War. The Servant in question did not showed any sign to stop though.

"_Al Kalb al Akbar_!", he shouted and a big black muscular wolf appeared in front of the book. It charged – right past Lancer of Black and towards Fuyita. Did he really thought, he wasn't able to defeat his mirror-image?! No! Taking out one dead apostle would greatly weakening the other two! Lancer quickly followed the dog to destroy it, his look-alike hot on his heels. Saver, now able to catch a breath, touched his feet with one hand to activate the wings and with his second one took out a bunch of papyrus scrolls bound together.

"**_Papyri Graecae magicae (Compilation of the Arcane Arts)_**! _i̱gesía tou gýpa! dýnami̱ ti̱s chí̱nas! anagénni̱si̱ tou táv̱rou! agrióti̱ta tou liontarioú! génni̱si̱ tou emvólou!_"

Five spells resulting in five effects. However, only two were visible. The first: Saver of Red's wound healed at once. The second: a dozen golems appeared under him, swarming out in every direction. And still Saver showed no sign of stopping. But this time his face had a more concentrated look than anytime before. In fact, his whole body was tense. Then he opened his mouth and out of it came a bunch of otherworldly sounds:

"_PPP SSS PHR[E] MMM ĒY ĒIA EĒ ŌŌŌ AAA EEE YĒ YŌĒ!_"

An explosion of prana surrounded him like a violent storm. Lancer of Black realized that it probably had been a mistake of him to destroy the dog first. In this moment, he heard a new voice from above:

"_Sun, rising in the east, grant me the power to destroy those who dare to use your name in vain!_"

A bright light appeared above them, illuminating the figure of Saber of Black, riding on a white winged horse. He was the one who had spoken and his words had a devastating effect. To make it short: They all vanished. The golems, Lancer of Black's mirror-image, the fire lion, the water snake, the air eagle, the earth rhino, the circle of books, the black poodle, the book Agake had brought with him and even the gigantic moving Statue of Liberty. They all vanished in the blink of an eye.

More than one Servant with the suffix "Red" found themselves in an unfavorable situation. However, the ones in the most danger where not the Servants, but Akage and Rin, who suddenly found themselves high up in the air without any footing together with an ax-crazy Servant who wasn't bothered by a disappearing enemy. He just attacked the next best thing around.

Saver of Red drew his katana and rushed to help his Master, only to be stopped by Lancer of Black. Akage frantically fired dozens of Black Keys as he fell towards the mad Servant, but each one of them was incinerated by the blue fire. What's more, the owner of those flames now jumped upwards, his blue-flaming sword prepared to strike. In a last ditch effort, he summoned a puppet made out of blades directly under him and made it use the flat side of one of its swords to sent him flying away, right before Berserker of Black cut it in half and incinerated it at the same time. Luckily for them, Berserker of Black had no skill like **Air Dance** or **Acrobatics** and so after jumping up, he would fall down. But that was also true for the children.

"Rin!", Akage tried to warn her of the approaching Servant, but she still was too occupied with frantically throwing her arms around while she spiraled downwards in the childish hope, this would slow down her fall. So, when she noticed him, he was already upon her, his samurai sword raised. But suddenly he spun around in mid-air to block the black thin blade guided by yet another new figure. But since he had no footing at all, he was pushed away by the power of the attack and smashed into the ground.

Saver of Red pushed away Lancer of Black's lances and looked at the newcomer. The tattered black mantle was something he hadn't seen before, but the orange hair was rather distinctive. Berserker of Red, as it really was him, grabbed the falling Rin, shot in a blur towards Akage, grabbed him and in the next instant was standing on the ground. Then he turned around to face Berserker of Black, who in a burst of flames stood up from the rubble and shot towards his red counterpart. The Substitute Shinigami in question gathered an insane amount of prana into his blade, which opposite to the cleaver before was now looking like a katana.

"**_Getsuga Tenshou (The Light that Pierces the Heaven)_**!", he shouted and with a swing of his blade created an energy wave, bigger than any Saver of Red had seen him use before. War noticed the peril his Servant was in.

"Dematerialize!", he ordered his Servant and the mad warrior complied, vanishing before the wave hit him. However, the Noble Phantasm did not stopped there and made its way over to where he and Famine were fighting against Archer of Red.

Since War decided to make his Servant astralize, he missed the crucial seconds to get out of the way in time and was engulfed in the bright light. Famine did reacted in time, but unfortunately for him this lead him into the perfect position for Archer of Red to impale him with one of his black wing-like spears. The suddenly missing blood resonance surprised Pest and he got hit between the eyes by one of Assassin of Red's kunai's. Lancer of Black noticed that they were starting to lose and vanished into a black portal, only to exit another one next to Dietlinde and drag her into it, before she fell pray to Assassin of Red's bugs.

"You alright, Master?!", Saver of Red asked Akage as he protectively jumped in front of him, followed quickly by Brawler of Red, who was holding her heavily bleeding shoulder. It seemed she really was not suited to deal with her black counterpart, after all.

"Yeah…", the youngest Master answered weekly as his Servant observed the situation. Next to him was Brawler of Red, behind him were Akage and Rin, the girl tightly latched onto the arm of the boy, protected on the other side by Berserker of Red. Diagonally above them rode Saber of Black on his Pegasus. In front of him stood Brawler of Black. Further away were Tokiomi and in front of him Archer of Red. Then there was Avenger of Red fighting against Archer of Black… no, the latter had decided to take spirit form as well and the irregular demon now made its way over towards her Master's partner. And lastly on a tree not too far away sat Caster of Red, painting. All in all they now had the numeral advantage but…

"Oh? Why are they running away, now that it got interesting?!" …Brawler of Black did not seemed to be worried, the same with Saber of Red. Usually he would say this was over-confidence but looking at what the latter did to him… His Servant seemed to be thinking about the same thing as she asked:

"What happened?"

"I don't know!", he honestly answered. "For some reason or another nearly all my abilities dispersed when Saber did his fancy chanting."

"Maybe it has to do with your legend", suggested Berserker of Red, who did not bothered to explain why he suddenly decided to help them. Usually Saver would comment on it, but not this time, as he was to occupied with the enigma in front of him.

"That can't be", he denied, "I have no ties to Perseus whatsoever."

Saber of Black took out something that looked closely like a scythe. **_Harpe (Immortal Slaying Scythe)_**, the weapon of Perseus. Wounds inflicted with that so called "sword" could only be healed by natural means. Healing magic wouldn't work on those.

Saver of Red clenched his teeth. But that did not explained, how Saber was able to seal his books. Actually he could only think of one character that his legends showed to him and that was not a gorgon-slaying pretty boy on a flying horse...

Wait! Saber, flying horse?! But Perseus did not rode Pegasus! That had been Bellerophon. Only later artists decided to depict the Phantasmal Beast as the mount of the more popular Perseus. Now, since a Heroic Spirit gets powered up by their legends, Perseus actually could handle Pegasus – when he was summoned as a Rider or in his home land. But not as a Saber in Japan. Combining the aforementioned fact about his legend…

"Oh, get out of here!", he cursed and pointed accusingly towards Saber of Black. "You are not Perseus!"

The people around him looked at him surprised and even Brawler of Black kept himself from attacking and instead opted for looked at Saber with interest. Saber of Black himself proudly held his head high.

"It seems I did not took away just your abilities, but your sense of reason as well. For I really am Perseus, legendary slayer of dragons!"

"Well, let me rephrase that", Saver conceded, "you are not _just_ Perseus! You are a Heroic Spirit-Complex!"

"What is a Heroic Spirit-Complex?", Akage asked, but he was not the only one now hanging on each of Saver's words. Even the Heroic Spirits did not get any information about this term from the Holy Grail.

"A fake Servant that had been artificially created by merging the legends of multiple mythological figures together", Saver of Red elaborated. Rin's eyes widened at that thought.

"But that's impossible!", she declared. "Only real Heroic Spirits can be summoned in the Fuyuki Holy Grail War!" Saver of Red had to laugh out loudly as he heard that.

"Only real Heroic Spirits?! We have already demons, both regular and irregular, one member of the Phantasmal Species, artificial Psychics, reincarnations, fake angels and whatever the hell Berserker of Red is supposed to be! I don't think there are a lot of proper heroes around, this time, do you?"

"Your reasoning might be sounding interesting", Saber of Black admitted, "but I am a real hero, not a fabrication!"

"All heroes are fabrications but that's beside the point. If you were the real deal, shouldn't we recognize each other, father?!"

"He's your father?!", yelled Akage and Avenger of Red unbelieving. Archer of Red rolled his eyes.

"He just at this fucking moment stated, that guy's not his fucking father!", he reminded her harshly, but in his mind his gears were already turning. Even if Saber was only a mixture of multiple heroes, figuring out which one made him able to turn off Saver's powers, he could figure out that fake priest's identity. But Saber of Black himself was not convinced by Saver's arguments. Quite the opposite.

"It seems you have become delusional enough to compare me to your father. Otherwise you would recognize the one whose powers you were trying to steal! But very well, I shall remind you myself!"

"Huh, what do you mean…" But Saver trailed off as he saw Saber letting **_Harpe (Immortal Slaying Scythe)_** vanish and taking out a big white claymore that shone like a beacon in the night. It had the head of a bull as handle and the horns made the guard. Even though it was just as large as the Servant, he was carrying it with just one hand.

"That's **_Barmāyeh (Ox-Headed Mace)_**, isn't it?", pondered Saver aghast. "Are you supposed to be Fereydun… wait! Stealing?!" Suddenly realization dawned upon him.

"**_Papyri Graecae magicae (Compilation of the Arcane Arts)_**! Your third component is Mithra-s!" Then he frowned.

"But how come you can block my abilities then… you might have the tiniest little advantage over me because of the legends but that doesn't make you…" Saver of Red was so absorbed in his thoughts he didn't noticed the reactions the other people had.

Brawler of Red , Avenger, Akage and Rin just looked at them confused. Tokiomi, Assassin of Red and Archer of Red were closely listening to anything that was coming out of Saver's mouth. Berserker of Red didn't seemed to care and just continued to watch Saber of Black even as the Holy Grail provided him with information regarding Mithras, the god of contracts. It did not mattered who his opponent was. The only thing that mattered was protecting the girl. Caster of Red actually stopped drawing – though this could be because they didn't really moved in the last minutes and he already had drawn this scene.

But the greatest reaction by far was coming from Brawler of Black. He was looking at Saber of Red with mad anticipation in his eyes. What's more, his killing intent was now directed at his own partner. Defeating a god… who could claim to have done something like that?

'Where are you?!', he suddenly heard in his mind. 'Get back this instant! When I am retreating, you mustn't suddenly stay behind unless I instructed it!' Of course his Master had to cut short his fun. But orders were orders. So, he turned into Spirit Form and went back to his Master. Meanwhile Saber of Black had received a similar message from his own:

'Please come back, Saber! You can fight another time!'

"I refuse!", the dragon-slayer declined loudly, not bothering that even the people around him could hear him.

"It is my duty as a hero to answer to every challenge!" Suddenly Saver perked up.

"It couldn't be? **Hero of Legends**?! But then…" Yes, Hero of Legends would amplify the advantages he would get from his legends. But this skill belonged to those, who made great use of their legends while still alive. No Alter Ego should have that skill, especially on such a high level that it could completely seal other abilities.

Except…maybe he _was_ a Divine Spirit. Maybe he lessened his own regression at the end of the age of gods, by combining his own legend with other fitting heroes like Perseus and Bellerophon who were after all still worshipped by humans, resulting in him losing enough of his **Divinity** to be summoned as a Heroic Spirit, but still keeping enough to be recognized in the legends.

'Please change your mind, Saber', Death urged his Servant. 'Is it really the duty of a hero to ignore the wishes of his comrades?'

"I must apologize but my karmic nature does not allow me to back down from a fight."

'B-but your foes are all weakened! Would it not be more heroic to fight them at full power? If you gain victory now, you wouldn't feel satisfied!' Saber thought about this argument.

"Very well, you are right!" He turned to face the other Servants. "For now I will bid you farewell. I will give you the time to recuperate so that the next time we fight, it will be a battle worthy of the legends!" With that he turned around and astralized.

They all waited a bit, but when nothing else happened anymore, they relaxed a bit. Archer of Red deactivated his electrode, Berserker of Red's clothes and sword turned into their usual form and Saver of Red took out a book.

"**_El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (These Are no Windmills)_**", said Saver and again took on the appearance of the Asian priest, while Tokiomi and the two Servants next to him walked over to them.

"You think he's gone?", Akage asked worried and Saver nodded.

"I don't think they are going to attack again right now. We should probably get going before someone else tries to meddle with us. Speaking of which, why are you here?" The last part was directed towards Berserker, who calmly put away his sword.

"I just came to save Rin, nothing more."

"You have my deepest gratitude", Tokiomi, who just arrived, told the not-mad Servant, bowing down to him. "I am in your dept!"

"Don't sweat it", Berserker shrugged it off, "what you wanted just coincided with what my Master and I wanted. So, no biggy." He made a casual good-bye gesture with his hand and then turned into Spirit Form. Tokiomi watched the particles vanish before turning towards his daughter.

"Rin, are you alright?" The girl in question looked at her father and her eyes started to became wet. Now that the fight was over, all the adrenaline dispersed and without a second thought she jumped into the arms of Tokiomi, burying her teary-eyed face into his suit.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!", she sobbed while he hugged her comforting, glad to have his daughter back. "I'm really, really sorry!"

"It's alright", he reassured her, "I am here. Now let's go back to your mother, she's already waiting for you." Without raising her head from his chest she nodded and he lifted her up.

"It seems I also have to thank you for coming to the rescue of my daughter, again", he addressed Saver of Red, "how can I express my gratitude this time?"

"Well", the Servant contemplated, "since you've seen what Saber of Black can do to me, I wouldn't say no to reforging our alliance, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't." An alliance was actually beneficial for them as well, considering that the opponent had one with five Servants and four dead apostles quadruplets! That Saver had broken the rule by summoning a Servant for himself was a minor issue compared to the situation at hand.

"Can I ask you something first?", Assassin of Red interrupted and Saver agreed:

"Sure, what's up?"

"It is regarding your identity. Now that Saver of Black has found out your true name, I think we as your potential allies should know, too.

"Is that so? Okay, okay, I'll tell you. It's not like that's going to change anything at this point, no matter how many people hear it. I am Arshtat, Avestan god of righteousness and justice!" Everyone stared at him blankly. Even Rin looked up. The first to say something was Brawler:

"You are the god of righteousness?" She couldn't quite believe that. As could no one else present for that matter. Considering what Saver was known for, this wasn't really surprising. The Servant in question just shrugged.

"I got better", he stated. Before Brawler could decide what to do with this response, a confused Avenger threw in another question:

"But wasn't Arshtat female?" At that Saver had to laugh.

"Who says I ain't? Besides, you wouldn't say that if you'd seen King Arthur. Or Mordred. Or Nero. Or Souji Okita. Or Jeanne d'Arc. No, wait, she was actually exposed to be a girl before her death…"

"Are you making fun of us?", Archer of Red voiced his suspicion, his eye twitching.

"No, seriously, you have no idea how many famous male heroes there are who are actually girls in disguise", Saver said smiling, "sometimes even I have trouble believing it."

"Father", Assassin suddenly interrupted, making the irregular Servant turn towards him confused.

"Excuse me?"

"Before you recognized Saber of Black's component as Mithras, you called him father", he stated without showing any emotions on his face.

"Furthermore, you also first called him Mithra, which would be his Avestan name and as a fake identity chose an Avestan deity. Out of all the figures in Avestan mythology there are only so many who have a famous person they can call father and have a legend which would make them weak against Mithra. Taking into account that you were surprised at this weakness, there is only one person you can be." Saver sighed while Archer muttered:

"That explains a lot." Avenger looked confused from one to the other, not knowing what they were talking about.

"Damn, looks like I messed up", the irregular Servants, resigned. "Well, I guess hide and seek is over." He turned around to address the whole crowd.

"Alright, alright, I'll be honest this time! Name's Angra Mainyu, Spirit of Destruction!" He gave them a mock bow. "Nice meeting ya!"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Saber of Black, I hope you liked how I portrayed him as a Heroic Spirit-Complex. Nearly all the gods in Campione! are fusions of multiple heroes and gods so I got the idea to compare Saber to the Alter-Egos from Fate Extra CCC and here we are. Since the Fuyuki Holy Grail does not allow for authorities he will not be able to use them here. But he got some really good weapons out of it.

And finally Saver of Red has revealed his identity. You are probably wondering how he got those Noble Phantasm and abilities since his legends doesn't show them. Well, I am not going to spoil it just yet, but I will tell you that it is more logically than Rider of Red's third Noble Phantasm.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: Brawler of Black**

Master: Dietlinde Edelfelt

True Name:  
Sex: male  
Strength: A  
Endurance: A  
Agility: B  
Mana: E  
Luck: E-  
Noble Phantasm:

Class Abilities

Bravery: C+  
Decreases the effects of mental interference such as pressure, confusion and fascination by half. Through high concentration the rank can be doubled for a short time.

Battle Continuation: B  
Makes it possible to retreat and recover from even deadly injuries as long as one does not receives a decisive fatal wound.

Skills

Eye of the Mind (True): C  
Capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. So long there is even a 5% chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning.

Rokushiki:  
A special fighting style created by breaking through the limits of one's body.

Noble Phantasm

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Archer of Black**

Master: Pest (Kirainakuuki Fuyita)  
True Name:  
Sex: male  
Strength: C  
Endurance: C  
Agility: B  
Mana: D  
Luck: E  
Noble Phantasm: C+

Class Abilities

Independent Action: A+  
Servant can remain in this world indefinitely even without a Master. However, in order to activate his Noble Phantasm, it is necessary to first acquire an extra supply of prana from alternative sources.

Magic Resistance: D  
Cancel _Single-Action_ spells. In practice it is Magic Resistance of the same degree of an amulet that rejects magical energy. Because he never had to deal with prana in his entire life he boasts a rank low for one of the Knight classes.

Skills

Nature of a Rebellious Spirit: C  
Is the temperament to never remain at one location and never embrace a lord. A wandering star that does not have the capacity to be king nor is capable of finding his own king. Negates the effects of _Charisma_ with the same rank.

Hero of the Wild West: N/A  
Is the ability to control horses and cattle, and to call force a horse at any time. Also increases accuracy and damage of ones own firearms slightly.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1  
_**Rank: C+; Anti-Army; Range: 20; Targets: 30 people  
An ability that lets him gather 'ki' in his revolver to shot powerful blasts of 'ki'. Since it follows a different theory than prana, he can use it as often as he wants.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: Berserker of Black**

Master: War  
True Name:  
Sex: male  
Strength: A  
Endurance: A  
Agility: B  
Mana: A+  
Luck: C  
Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Mad Enhancement: B  
Rank up for all parameters, but takes away most of sanity.

Skills

Prana Burst (Flames): A  
is a version of _Prana Burst_ that infuses weapons with prana that imparts a flame effect.

Instinct: B  
is the power to "feel" the most favorable developments for oneself during battle.

Monstrous Strength: C  
is an ability possessed by monsters and beasts, temporary boost of the _Strength_ parameter by one rank for a time limit determined by the ranking of this skill.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1  
_**Rank: A; Anti-Unit/Anti-Army/Anti-Spirit; Range: 25; Targets: 666 people  
Blue Flames that can damage the physical as well as the spiritual. They are able to hurt a Heroic Spirit even in Spirit Form.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: Avenger of Red**

Master: Volquart Weissbach  
True Name:  
Sex: Female  
Strength: A  
Endurance: E-  
Agility: D  
Mana: E-  
Luck: E-  
Noble Phantasm: D

Class Abilities

None

Skills

Acrobatics: A  
Is the ability to use acrobatic feats in air combat.  
Additionally the Agility of Avenger is raised by two ranks as long as Avenger is airborne.

Noble Phantasm

**Gate Keeper Merry: The Door Between the Worlds**

Rank: D; Anti-Army; Range: 0-99; Targets: 1 area  
An ability that destroys the current Reality Marble or other supernatural area creations that Avenger stands in and damages the owners Soul. The higher the destroyed mystery, the greater the damage. It does not work on a place that was adjusted with something akin to Territory Creation Rank C or less.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: Assassin of Red**

Master: Kotomine Kirei  
True Name:  
Sex: Male  
Strength: D  
Endurance: D  
Agility: C  
Mana: B  
Luck: C  
Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Presence Concealment: A+  
It is possible to disappear completely and become almost impossible to be detected. However, efficiency will decrease once preparations to attack are taken.

Skills

Military Tactics: B  
Is tactical knowledge used not for one-on-one combat situations, but for battles where many are mobilized.  
The Servant gains a small bonus in all parameters during use of one's own _Anti-Army_ Noble Phantasm or when dealing against an enemy _Anti-Army_ Noble Phantasm.

Ninjutsu: C  
Enables him to use standard techniques of shinobi. This include sticking to any surface, switching places with objects, create clones as well as knowledge about close quarter combat and different weapons. Can be combined with his Noble Phantasm.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1  
_**Rank: B; Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person  
Allows to control different kind of bugs.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Archer of Red**

Master: Tohsaka Tokiomi  
True Name:  
Sex: Male  
Strength: E  
Endurance: B  
Agility: E  
Mana: E  
Luck: C  
Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: B  
Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Independent Action: A+  
Servant can remain in this world indefinitely even without a Master. However, in order to activate his Noble Phantasm, it is necessary to first acquire an extra supply of prana from alternative sources.

Skills

Eye of the Mind (True): C  
Capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. So long there is even a 5% chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning.

Discernment of the Poor: A  
He will not be deceived by excuses and deceptions from words.

Noble Phantasm

**Vector Change: The Deadly Basics of Science  
**Rank: A; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person  
It is an Extrasensory Perception close to a Mystic Body. It allows for control over the direction and amount of every vector that hits the user's body.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Brawler of Red**

Master: Saver (Servant)  
True Name: Kasukabe You  
Sex: female  
Strength: E  
Endurance: D  
Agility: D  
Mana: B  
Luck: C  
Noble Phantasm: A+

Class Abilities

Battle Continuation: E  
Increases the tolerance to pain and loss of blood by a small margin

Bravery: A+  
is the ability to negate mental interference such as pressure, confusion and fascination  
Bonus effect of increasing melee damage

Skills

Independent Action: C  
Capable of remaining in this world for one day without an established contract.

Instinct: B  
is the power to "feel" the most favorable developments for oneself during battle.

Nature of a Rebellious Spirit: B  
is the temperament to never remain at one location and never embrace a lord. A wandering star that does not have the capacity to be king nor is capable of finding his own king.  
Negates the effects of "Charisma" up to Rank B

Part of the Pack: D  
Increases ones parameters in Tag Battles for each ally.  
Brawler gains a bonus each for up to three allies.

Protection from Beast: C  
Reduces the damage taken by animals and Phantasmal Beast except dragons by 35 %

Noble Phantasm

**Genome Arvor: The Phylogenetic Tree of Life  
**Rank: A+; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person  
Allows Brawler to communicate with all animals and eudemons on the level of "Animal Dialogue" Rank A and samples the DNA of the ones she has befriended to give her their abilities.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Lancer of Black**

Master: Gaichuu Kotaru (Famine)  
True Name:  
Sex: male  
Strength: B  
Endurance: C  
Agility: A+  
Mana: B  
Luck: E  
Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Battle Continuation:

Magic Resistance: B  
Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Skills

Corridor of Darkness: N/A  
Is the ability to see the points where the Realm of Darkness is closest to the real world and open doors between the two worlds at those places.

Wind-Magic: A  
Master of wind-based thaumaturgy.

Charisma: D  
Leadership-skill increases slightly.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1  
_**Rank: D; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person  
A mantle that protects the wearer from all darkness. This includes curses and thaumaturgical mental influences.

**_Noble Phantasm #2  
_**Rank: B; Anti-Unit; Range: 20; Targets: 10 people  
Six Lances that raise the wielder's parameters slightly and increase the proficiency of wind-based thaumaturgy.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: Berserker of Red**

Master: Matou Kariya  
True Name:  
Sex: Male  
Strength: A+  
Endurance: A+  
Agility: A+  
Mana: A  
Luck: A  
Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Mad Enhancement: X  
Lost because of an opponent's Noble Phantasm.

Skills

Battle Continuation: A  
Makes possible to fight even with deadly injuries and can remain alive so long as one does not receive a decisive fatal wound.

Hidden Visibility: D  
It is impossible for anybody without Magic Circuits or psychic ability to see this Servant.

Air Dance: A  
A skill that allows for running across the air as if it was solid ground.  
Berserker is able to stand in mid-air, regardless of the direction he is facing.

Prana Burst: A  
is the increase in performance caused by infusing one's weapons and body with magical energy and instantly expelling it.  
A normal weapon that is not on the level of a divine mystery can be destroyed in one blow. Raises defense in several times.

High-Speed Movement: A  
Allows the user to quickly switch from one location to another. At this rank he can move from one end of a city to the other in an instant.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1  
_**Rang: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-2; Targets: 1 person

**Getsuga Tenshō: The Light that Pierces the Heaven  
**Rang: B~A++; Anti-Gate/Anti-Fortress/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-99; Targets: 1000 people  
Gathers a lot of prana into a the blade and releases it in one single wave. The strength of the attack depends on the amount of prana previously gathered.

**_Noble Phantasm #3  
_**Rang: A+; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-2; Targets: 1 person  
A cloak and sword-combination that increases the rank of Mana and Agility of the user by 2.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: Saber of Black**

Master:  
True Name: Perseus/ Mithras/ Bellerophon  
Sex: male  
Strength: A  
Endurance: A+  
Agility: A+  
Mana: A+  
Luck: A  
Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: A  
Cancel spells of A-Rank or below. In practice, the Servant is untouchable to modern magi, so it would not be an exaggeration to title the Servant a "Magus Killer".

Riding: A+  
Creatures on the level of _Phantasmal Beast_ and _Divine Beast_ can be used as mounts. However, that does not apply to members of the _Dragon Kind._

Skills

Divinity: A+  
The measure of whether one has Divine Spirit aptitude or not.  
Saber is a true Divine Spirit that has lost just enough of his Divinity to be summoned as a Servant.

Hero of Legends: A+  
A skill given to those that have made great use of their legends while still on the mortal plain. Increases all advantages one gains through his legends.  
At this rank one can completely negate all abilities tied to legends even the smallest part inferior towards yours.

Uncrowned Arms Mastership: N/A  
Is arms competency that was not recognized by others due various reasons. To the opponents, the rank of Saber's weapons, Riding and Divinity appears to be one degree lower than what it actually is. If his true name is revealed, this effect will be terminated.

Mentality-Impeding Fame: A  
A mental distortion gained through excessive fame. One always puts one's own opinions and needs above others. Makes it also impossible to keep one's own name a secret.  
At this rank even one's morals are effected and one only listens to people who appeal to one's distorted morals.

Noble Phantasm

**Harpe: Immortal Slaying Scythe  
**Rank: B; Anti-Unit; Range: 2-3; Targets: 1 person  
A monster-killing holy sword with a special shape similar to a scythe. It has the trait of "Refraction of Longevity" which is a divine ability that nullifies the "undying attribute" of immortals and inflicts wounds that cannot be restored by any methods other than healing in accordance to the natural laws.

**Barmāyeh: Ox-Headed Mace  
**Rank: ?; Anti-Unit/Anti-Army/Anti-Thaumaturgy; Range: 1-10; Targets: 25 people

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Saver of Red**

Master: Akaji Akage  
True Name: Angra Mainyu  
Sex: Male  
Strength: E  
Endurance: E  
Agility: C+  
Mana: E  
Luck: E  
Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Counter Hero: A+  
Induces an effective 3-rank parameter reduction against any opponent that can be classified as a 'Hero.' The parameter-down effect is reduced by one rank in the circumstance that the opponent is of the 'Antihero' category.

Charisma: D  
Leadership-skill increases slightly.

Skills

Human Body: ?  
Saver doesn't need a Master to exist and has a higher mana regeneration, but can not enter spirit form.

Collector: A+  
The talent to collect high quality goods.  
Saver is capable of collecting all books and written texts.

High-Speed-Writing: A+  
Saver can write fast enough for it not to be noticed.

High-Speed-Incantation: B  
Is the capacity to recite spells at high speeds.  
The words are nearly unable to be understood.

Rune Magic: A  
is knowledge about this type of Magecraft  
capacity to use the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark

Acrobatics: B  
Is the ability to use acrobatic feats in air combat.  
Increases agility by one rank as long as Saver is airborne.

Divinity:  
The measure of whether one has Divine Spirit aptitude or not.

Noble Phantasm

**The New Colossus: Mother of Exiles  
**Rank: A; Anti-Army; Range: 15-50; Targets: 100 people  
Summons a golem in the size and shape of the American Statue of Liberty. Can only be activated if one has met at last five magi in the current location who are not native to it.

**Höllenzwang: To Call upon the Devil  
**Rank: B; Anti-Unit; Range: 1-30; Targets: 1 person  
Summons a demon looking like a black poodle that can turn into black fog whenever it is hit. It can be trapped by a pentagram.

**Llibre de meravelles: The Lord Holds His Hands Above Me  
**Rank: A; Anti-Unit/ Anti-Thaumaturgy; Range: ?; Targets: ?  
A collection of twenty-seven books with Anti-thaumaturgical properties. Decreases all antagonistic supernatural effects by one.

**Dr. Fausts vierfacher Höllenzwang: To Control the Ghosts of the Four Elements  
**Rank: C; Anti-Team; Range: 1-50; Targets: 100 people  
Summons apparitions controlling one different element each.

**Ġāyat al-ḥakīm wa aḥaqq al-natīǧatain bi-'l-taqdīm: The aim of the wise and the primacy of the worthier of the two arts  
**Rank: C; Anti-Unit; Range: 2-50; Targets: 100 people  
An Arabic grimoire about astrology and celestial magic that creates supernatural effects with the constellations of the stars.

**Als ich ein kleiner Junge war: Not Everything Seen by Children Should Be Told to Children  
**Rank: B~EX; Anti-Thaumaturgy; Range: 1-50; Targets: 10 attacks  
Can attract and absorb any supernatural attacks that can be launched. The rank of the attacks it can absorb is higher, the lower the minimum age of the people observing the attacks is.

**El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha: These Are no Windmills  
**Rank: A; Anti-Army; Range: 0-999; Targets: 1000 people  
Can make people and objects look like something or someone different in the same size. As long as its name is not known, even some abilities of the disguise can taken over.

**Papyri Graecae magicae: Compilation of the Arcane Arts  
**Rank: A; Anti-Unit/ Anti-Army/ Anti-Self; Range: ?; Targets: ?  
A collection of papyri containing different invocations of spells and summonings as well as liturgical rituals.


	33. Chapter 32: The Consequence

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, **Helspawn007**, **Planeshunter**, **Shin XIX**, **coronadomontes**, **the lone soul** and **ultron emperor**.

Chapter 32: The Consequence

No, no, no, no, no! That was impossible! Absolutely impossible! He was the proof of that! If it really was possible to summon that guy as a Servant, he wouldn't had been summoned that time in the third war! At last that was what Angra Mainyu had thought for the duration of his whole afterlife in the Holy Grail. Or rather, after developing a distinct personality, which had been right when he traveled back in time for the first time. Well, to be precise he did not developed a new one, instead he just kept his old one from before he got defeated in the third Fuyuki Grail War and turned into a fusion of primal instincts.

But that did not mattered right now. What mattered right now was Saver of Red, who proclaimed to be Angra Mainyu. The real deal. But a Divine Spirit shouldn't be able to be summoned by the Fuyuki Holy Grail! Medusa had been an exception because she lost most of her **Divinity** when she became a monster. And guys like Houyi and Chiron could only be summoned, because they had given up their immortality for one reason or another. However, there is nothing in the legend of Angra Mainyu that would indicate, he had done something like that. Now it was true that the legends did not told everything about a hero's life. But on the other hand, he was the freaking Holy Grail! No matter how many different lives they had lived in different parallel worlds, he knew them all! It was impossible to conceal it from him!

Unless… he might know all possible versions of summable Heroic and Divine Spirits from his own world, the Throne of Heroes was vast. Every time he searched through it, he would find new heroes, belonging to worlds completely different than his own. But sometimes the world would have still the same legends. Saber of Black was one such example. In his world he was a Heretic God who rebelled against his legend and manifested on the earth, yet there were the same stories about the gods and man of the old ages. Granted, in his world the humans mixed up the legends so much that it resulted in him becoming a Heroic Spirit Complex but that did not always had to be so.

And so it could be possible for Saver of Red to belong to such a parallel universe. It would also explain where he got all his books from. He could have picked them up traveling and after being summoned in this world, they became his Noble Phantasm. And because Divine Spirits who were called as Servants in the Fuyuki Holy Grail War could not use their authorities without self-destructing, neither could he, making him stuck with abilities completely different than his usual one, just like Mithras.

The Heroic Spirit residing in the Holy Grail began to chuckle sinister. Be that as it may, choosing Saber of Black really had been a stroke of luck, even though the experiment did not worked quite as he expected. He only wished, he knew what kind of world Saver was from. Maybe it would give him some hints about how he got summoned and if he was truly a Counter Guardian. Then again, he had a lot of time on his hands inside the Holy Grail, didn't he? He just had to look for him.

* * *

"Hehe", Zouken chuckled, "Mithras and Angra Mainyu, the number of interesting heroes summoned as Servants this time just keeps increasing, doesn't it, Caster?"

"Indeed, they do", responded Caster of Black smiling, but only on the outside. It was true that both had revealed intriguing identities. But she was really worried about Saber of Black's skill. Because Saber was not just Mithra, he was also Perseus. And for what action was that guy really known for? Yes, for slaying the mythological gorgon Medusa. And her name was Medusa Gorgon and her motif a snake. This connection would usually be too weak to make any significant difference, but this changed with his high level in **Hero of Legends**. Thanks to this skill, in front of him she would be as powerless as Saver of Red.

And opposite to him, she was a witch, fighting with magic she had no sword as back-up weapon. She could probably still use **_Black Blood (There Is no Fun in Sanity)_**, since it had nothing to do with snakes, but her Noble Phantasm was not a weapon but a tool. It would not endure against Saber's **_Barmāyeh (Ox-Headed Mace)_**. Really, agreeing to an alliance had been the right thing to do. Speaking of which… why was the Einzbern-Master still using his familiar? The fight was over and any other crucial information would be brought to them by Assassin or Zouken, so why was he still sitting their with his eyes closed?

"It doesn't matter who these insects are!", proclaimed Saver of Black. "Once I have gathered enough power, none of them is going to be able to defeat me!"

"I do hope so", Zouken told, "since there seem to be two Divine Spirits that have passed by the restrictions of the Heaven's Feel ritual. Though I really wonder how they managed to do it."

"That is something I would like to know as well", Jubstacheit von Einzbern, who just now returned his consciousness to his body. His expression was not one of enjoyment but sternness. That was because unlike Zouken he had already tried once to summon a Divine Spirit in the Holy Grail War. And not just any Divine Spirit, but Angra Mainyu, the evil god of Zoroaster himself. It was his greatest failure. As he got stuck with Avenger instead, the weakest Servant of them all. So, how could a ten-year old boy without any thaumaturgical training succeed where he so spectacularly failed?

* * *

He woke up with a startled cry, his five-year old body soaked in sweat. He couldn't see anything as it was dark all around him. Only the feel of the bed sheet under him reassured him that it all had just been a nightmare. But he still hid under the bedcovers as the shadows around him looked so threatening. He knew his parents always told him that there existed no ayakashi or other monsters but when he looked around at night, he was starting to get doubts. His eyes tried to make out the outlines of the furniture and instead created bizarre figures which was not exactly helping to placate his nerves.

But after some time he finally managed to work up the courage to walk to the light switch and press it. He had to close his eyes as a bright light coming from the lamb on the ceiling. He opened them a bit but it took some time until they finally accustomed to the brightness. But then he finally recognized the shadows at what they really were. He let out a breath he didn't knew he had been holding. Nevertheless, he knew that when he put out the light, the shadows would come back. So he opened the door to his room, walked over to his parents room that lay opposite of his.

His father seemed to be a light sleeper, since as soon as the boy mumbled "dad", he stirred and opened his eyes. Seeing, who was in front of him, he immediately asked:

"What is the matter, dear?" The boy tightly held on to his blanket, he didn't noticed, he had been carrying with him.

"I had a nightmare", he mumbled quietly, but his father was able to understand him, nonetheless. He looked with pity at his son and asked:

"Do you want to sleep with us, honey?" The boy nodded and quickly climbed over his dad's body to snuck under the covers between his parents. His mother who now also was in a state between sleep and awake, smiled at him. He smiled back as he snuggled against his mothers warm body.

His father looked at him with love and wondered, if he should turn off the lights now or wait until his son was asleep, when suddenly a shadow fell upon them. He spun around and saw some… thing. It was no human or animal. If he were to describe It, he would call it a giant blob of tar rising from the ground. Horrified he watched It as It developed two arm-like appendages and something similar to a face. But the eye socket was empty and the mouth toothless, making it look like It escaped right out a horror movie. Yet he could not avert his eyes. The same applied to his family members, who also had noticed the abomination and where now clutching onto him as if their life depended on it.

Then It suddenly _smiled_, much wider than what would have been possible for a human and through the air resounded an unnatural voice while with every single word small ripples moved over Its surface:

"**Hello~! My name is Uryuu Ryuunosuke! I don't have much time, so I will go straight to the point: Do you mind dying for me?!**"

The right appendage sprouted a clawed hand and shot towards the assembled humans. The woman screamed and the man covered his child with his body.

SPLASH! The screaming stopped. Slowly the man opened his eyes. He was not dead. His wife wasn't either. Instead she stared stunned at It behind him. He looked behind himself and saw the black liquid in front of him, floating in mid-air. Not as hand, but as a splattered smudge onto an invisible wall between him and It. Slowly It retreated Its tendril and sighed in a disappointed tone of voice:

"**Aww, I was too late.**"

"Master", a second voice chimed in, belonging to an Italian boy with short black hair and simple, old-looking clothes who was now standing besides the abomination, "I thought we had a deal."

"**What deal?!**", It asked, somehow sounding hurt. "**You've just been a meanie and destroyed all my art I worked so hard to create!**"

The boy narrowed down his eyes and held up his left hand.

"Would you like to become a part of my art?", he asked dangerously. But the abomination just laughed.

"**That would be coooool, but this…**", he pointed at herself, before spreading his arms and spinning around in circles, "**…is much, much COOOOOOOOOOOOOLER!**"

As he said "cool", the ripples on the surface went into overdrive, raising and sinking the amount of a full inch. The humans could not turn away their eyes from the surreal scene in front of them. The boy noticed the stares and took out a piece of paper which he put onto his wooden pad. Then he took out a paintbrush, dipped it into the pouch on his left side and with a "wush" a picture appeared on the piece of paper. It were him and the abomination standing in this room. And it looked rather good. Even if it was only in black and white and some things were simplified, the proportions and shadowing were all done perfectly.

He walked over to the bed and the inhabitants rushed as far back as they could. But he paid them no heed and instead held the paper in front of him with his right hand, while putting the left inside the ink pouch. Then he wished with his left hand across the picture, over-painting it with a black stripe. At once the three humans lost consciousness and sank into the pillows. The Italian tucked them in without leaving any ink stains on the bedding as the wrappings around his left hand were all clean again.

"**What did you do?**", Uryuu Ryuunosuke asked his Servant.

"I erased their memories of us", Caster of Red answered, before putting away his drawings. "Now let's go back. I have some more paintings for you."

"**Really?! Show me~!, show me~!**"

* * *

"_Wir sind vier_", chanted Death and soon enough his brothers were standing in the same room as him, Dietlinde and all their Servants.

"I thought I would die!", Famine exclaimed loudly.

"You've died, again!", Death reminded his brothers. War just snorted while Famine sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry", he apologized, "but who could have known that there were guys from two different coalitions coming to save that one girl?"

"You are right", Death admitted, "even I didn't calculated for that. And thus the mission ended in a total failure. We didn't manage to take out one Servant or Master and have lost our hostage."

"If I had continued to fight I would have defeated them all", proclaimed Saber of Black. Death wasn't that sure. Even if he was stronger than all of them, it was still six against two. It had been different before Lancer of Black had retreated with the Edelfelt-woman but they could not risk losing her, yet. Brawler didn't had **Independent Action**. And all the other Master had already been killed for the time being so there was no one present to forge another summoning contract. So Lancer had made the right decision in retreating, even though they had to suffer a failure.

However, for all the things they lost there was one thing that they had gained: The knowledge that Saver of Red could not stand against Saber of Black. And it wasn't just because Saber was stronger than him. No, as long as Saber was in the vicinity, Saver could not even fight on equal terms against all other Servants. This weakness was overwhelming! Such an advantage against another Servant should usually only appear when a Heroic Spirit tried to fight against his Divine Spirit parent, whose powers he had been using. Speaking of Divine Spirit, he had always assumed it had been impossible to summon Divine Spirits in this Holy Grail War. Looks like there was still a lot of things that they didn't knew about the Fuyuki Holy Grail.

"So, what are we going to do now?", Famine interrupted his line of thoughts. Death took out a folder.

"Our current strategy would not work anymore", he sighed while looking through it. "There are no more young maidens who could serve Saber." Seriously, for someone who called himself a hero Saber had an interesting concept of what is acceptable and what not. For example, any woman belonging to a lineage of priests was supposed to aid heroes in their quest to slay monsters in any way possible. As Rin had been birthed by magi, she was fitting the requirements close enough and Saber had not spoken against using her as hostage. One hero this one was. Seriously, his arrogance really was fitting for a Divine Spirit.

Regardless, none of the other Master had a person close to them which they could use as leverage. Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald had only his fiancée Sola-Ui, who was hiding in the same castle he was. Matou Kariya had only Sakura – also apparently Rin and maybe Aoi – but the girl was with Matou Zouken, Matou Byakuya and Jubstacheit von Einzbern, who themselves had no person which could be used against them. Kiritsugu Emiya had only his wife Irisviel which he kept close to his side and Waver Velvet was a magi with no ties to the people he lived with in the beginning of the Grail War. Furthermore Caster's Master was still an unknown.

However, the most curious of all the Masters regarding this matter was Akaji Akage, the Master of Saver of Red himself. It wasn't that he had none. It was just, he couldn't _find_ any! Even though he could find any information on Akage – he even got his birth certificate – he couldn't find any information about his family. He even went to the graveyard and asked the couple named Akaji who were buried there if they knew about this boy.

That was when it started to get crazy. As in fact, they did! He had found two of his grandparents who died five years ago, one in a car accident, the other because of natural causes soon later. But when he asked them about Akage's parents, they couldn't answer him. They could tell you anything about the boy himself, but nothing about any living relatives. Most curious, considering that at last one of them had be their offspring! That was when he noticed, this did not happen through natural causes. Some higher power – or maybe Saver of Red – used his might to hide them. Wait! If Saber was the one who did it, could it be that now that Saber of Black annihilated his abilities, he could now find them?!

"You stay here and recover", he told his fellow Masters, "meanwhile I will see if I can pay the old Akaji couple a visit."

* * *

"We're back!", shouted Avenger, Saver and Brawler of Red as they walked into the Tohsaka mansion. Archer of Red just shook his head as he walked in after them together with Akage and Tokiomi who was still carrying Rin. Assassin followed shortly in Spirit Form.

"Welcome back, Master Tohsaka", greeted Volquart, "I have seen the battle through my familiars, so I already know what happened. That said…" He turned towards Avenger. Without any warning he let his fist sank down on her head.

"Wa-?" Even though Heroic Spirits were beings on a much higher level of existence than humans that she should not even feel the impact, she flinched back and rubbed her head. While glaring from under her big hat she looked accusingly up to him.

"Why did you do that?", she asked him hurt. But Volquart did not back down.

"That's my line!", he raged. "You can't just disappear without telling me! Do you know how much you worried me?!" Avenger pouted. She opened her mouth but closed it again shortly after without uttering a sound. Sadly she looked down. It was true. She went against Tokiomi's orders and so against Volquart, who trusted in his abilities. Even though she had only wanted to help, she rushed in without thinking and nearly had made everything even worse.

"I am sorry", she mumbled weeping, "I am sorry." Volquart sighed. He held out his hand and petted her on the head.

"It's alright", he reassured her, "just don't do anything on your own ever again."

"Okay!", she agreed, traces of tears in her eyes.

"Well, not to disrupt this touching reunion", Saver of Red threw in, "but that's only number one we have to go through now, right?"

"Rin?!", a female voice shouted through the entrance hall. On the upper floor stood Tohsaka Aoi with wide eyes on the verge of tears and next to her Assassin of Red.

"Mother!", shouted Rin as she recognized them.

"Rin!", Aoi shouted again, hurried past Assassin and made her way down the stairs.

"Mother!", Rin responded as Tokiomi let her down and she ran towards her second parent. With tears in their eyes they fell into each others arms. Rin was burying her face into her mothers abdomen and cried her heart out. Aoi held her tightly, not wanting to let go of her at all. For some time all watched the reunion of mother and child in silence. Only to get interrupted by a certain Servant:

"Well, if anybody's searching me, I'll be in our old hideout, packing our stuff. Please behave while I am gone, Shirou!"

"My name is Akage!"

"Whatever!"

* * *

"I can't say I approve of your actions", Kayneth berated Berserker of Red and his Master after the former went back to their hideout. "Taking such actions without consulting with all parties can jeopardize the whole alliance!"

"That doesn't matter", Kariya proclaimed, "as long as Rin is save."

"Well, it's not like I can't understand them", Lancer of Red admitted. "Heck, I nearly went berserk when I thought Mina died."

"That doesn't matter right now, does it?", Kayneth responded angrily but to his surprise Lancer smiled.

"Really?", he asked. "Then what would you have done if they had kidnapped Sola-Ui?"

"…" Kayneth couldn't make a sound so instead his fiancée answered for him:

"Lord el-Melloi is a first-rate magus from a long line. Obviously he would not let anyone use me as leverage against him."

The last part alone could be interpreted as him rushing to her rescue the moment she was in danger, but in context with the first part it was clear it could only mean abandoning her. Kayneth wanted to disagree with her but once again he couldn't bring a word out. He loved her. If it came to winning the Holy Grail War and saving her life he would choose his fiancée. But that wasn't really a big sacrifice on his part. He participated only for the glory, after all. However, he was still a magi. If he would lose something with a lot higher value like his Magic Crest in exchange for her safety, he didn't knew what he would do.

For the first time since the start of the Heaven's Feel, he wondered, if it had been the right decision to participate. However, his pride as a magi from such a long line would not allow him to back down or even voice his doubts.

"Your engagement had been a political one, hadn't it?", Lancer interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to reality so that he could see his fiancée affirm the statement.

"Seriously?", Berserker of Red asked in bewilderment. "I thought only the nobles in Seireitei were so old-fashioned!"

"Behold the true nature of magi!", shouted Kariya with a maniacal smile on his face, while his eyes were filled with hatred. "But something like that's only the tip of the iceberg!"

"I got a good understanding of what magi are when you gave me those Crest Worms", Lancer agreed. To be fair even Kayneth and Sola-Ui were disgusted by the Matou magecraft. Speaking of which…

"How did your Master dealt with your prana consumption?", the Knight of the Lance asked the not-mad warrior. "You seemed like you had used a second stage while you fought."

"You mean _Bankai_? Yeah, that's somewhat is my second stage", Berserker elaborated. "Actually it's supposed to be the third one, but for reasons I can't go back to the first. And no, I actually didn't drain any reiatsu from him. I kept to your advice and used only my own. But I don't have as much as I used to, so I'm quite drained. It's such a pity Orihime isn't here, she would be able to fill me up in no time."

"Well, that's the job that is usually supposed to be taken by the Master. So you are just going to have to deal with it."

"I know."

"Anything else their ego-trip did accomplish?", Kayneth interrupted. "Or was that all?"

"We did manage to figure out the identities of Saber of Black and Saver of Red", Lancer announced. Berserker looked at him questionly.

"You figured out Saver's identity?"

"He told his new teammates after you were gone. But since he was still in public I don't know for sure if what he said is really true."

"His new teammates?", Sola-Ui inquired.

"Yes, he reforged his old alliance with Tohsaka Tokiomi." Lancer's Master and his fiancée stared at him bewildered.

"But wouldn't that mean…", he started.

"…they now have an alliance containing out of five Servants and four Masters", his Servant finished the sentence for him. "Not that I can blame them. Considering they just fought against an alliance made out of five Servants and four Masters, too, not to forget that three of those Masters are actually belonging to the dead apostle quadrupled. Seriously, I wouldn't mind increasing the number of our temporary comrades, either."

"That actually might be a good idea", admitted Kayneth. Even though they had a great territorial advantage, they still only consisted out of two Servants and two Masters. And even though he could use thaumaturgy without getting drained by his Servant, Matou Kariya balanced out that advantage.

"So, whom do you propose?", he asked his Servant. Lancer of Red had already shown a great strategically mind and foresight. It wouldn't surprise him, if he had already an answer to this question. Though the smile he directed at him now was a bit unsettling.

"Really, Master", The Knight of the Lance responded, "you should stop asking questions when the answer is already clear." What insolence! Yet Kayneth managed to calm down his anger. Something in his smile and tone of voice implied that he wouldn't like the answer. And since it was supposedly _clear_, he would not ask his Servant for clarification but find the answer on his own… no. No!

"Do you expect me to confederate with that thief?!" His Servant laughed.

"Told you it's clear. What else can we do? We could try and get ourselves into one of the two bigger alliances but once everyone else is defeated, we would be cut off from that one first, which would put us into the same position we are in right now."

"But what about the rest of the second set of Servants? Isn't there anyone qualified?"

"To the aforementioned coalition belong Saber, Lancer, Archer, Berserker and Brawler of Black. That leaves Rider, Assassin, Avenger, Saver of Black and Caster of Red. Unfortunately except the latter whose Master is still unconfirmed all of them belong in another alliance, containing of Jubstacheit von Einzbern, Matou Byakuya, Matou Zouken and Caster of Black."

"Zouken", growled Kariya, interrupting Lancer of Red for a short moment. But after that he continued on as if nothing happened:

"And considering that one is the child-possessing witch and the other the creator of those Crest Worm, I wouldn't want to partner up with them." His gaze fell upon Berserker's Master.

"Not to forget some other information about those guys I shouldn't discuss in front of everybody." Kayneth wanted to inquire but decided to keep silent. Lancer seem to imply it was something that had to do with Matou Kariya, who seemed to become more and more crazy with every passing day. So, he noticed it, too. He would ask Lancer in secret, what kind of information the Matou shouldn't hear but for now trust in his decision not to ally themselves with this group. Still…

"Waver Velvet humiliated me greatly when he stole my catalyst", the El-Melloi objected. "I cannot allow this indignity to go unpunished!"

Lancer rolled his eyes, while Sola-Ui mockingly asked:

"So, does the great Lord El-Melloi prefer holding a grudge over winning the Grail?"

"She is right, you know", Berserker spoke up before he could retaliate, "holding a grudge at someone over something so little seems a bit stupid."

"Little?"

"Well, you have to admit that none of you summoned what you planned to", Lancer added.

"So, either both of your catalysts were fake or catalysts don't matter as much as everybody thinks." He looked his Master deeply in the eye.

"In a war one cannot always choose ones allies. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made." Kayneth held back a sigh. Against those superior arguments he couldn't prevail. Although it would be difficult it seemed like he had no chance but to forgive his student. It wouldn't do if word spread around he was defeated just because he refused to let go of a grudge, after all.

"Very well, I allow you to contact the Master of Saber and Rider of Red. Also notify Master Velvet that I… don't hold the theft of my artifact against him anymore."

"Great! So, do you now want to hear the identities of the two Servants?"

"Certainly." Indeed. That was what they had been talking about before, hadn't it?

"Saber of Black seems to be a fusion of multiple Heroic Spirits including Perseus and Mithras, while Saver of Red introduced himself as Angra Mainyu."

"Seriously?", Berserker asked as he got the information about Angra Mainyu from the Holy Grail.

"But he can't be so bad, considering there are actually people wanting to team up with him."

"And the fact that for a Persian Heroic – no – Divine Spirit he likes using a Katana a lot, makes me wonder if he really is telling the truth", Lancer added. "But considering none of his Noble Phantasm work while he is around Saber of Black seems to point into that direction. Though I really wonder how he came into possession of a Japanese weapon…"

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Guess who's back? Now to be fair, I actually had first planned to make Hyouma's father the Master of Caster of Red. But then **coronadomontes** had the idea of Ryuunosuke surviving the attack and seeing that **_Black Blood_** can only be destroyed by a Noble Phantasm, I decided to keep him in - with some little changes. It's also better than throwing in yet another new character, especially an OC.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	34. Chapter 33: The Face of Evil

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, **Shin XIX**, **Planeshunter**, **Nanashi The Lord of the Sky** and **coronadomontes**.

Chapter 33: The Face of Evil

Lancer of Red was asleep in front of a western-styled castle. His silver-haired head rested on the bosom of a young shrine maiden with short orange hair that had been tied with two red ribbons on both sides.

"Ugh…", Lancer stirred.

"Oh, looks like he's coming to", the girl stated happily.

"Where am I?", Lancer asked, not completely conscious, yet. But than he noticed the face of the girl above him.

"WHOA! What… happened?", he asked wide-eyed. Meanwhile a young man with long black hair wearing a black business suit was walking down the entrance stairs.

"So, you've finally decided to join us...", he spoke up.

"Did you had a pleasant nap?" At once the Knight of the Lance jumped up to face him, a small blush present on his face.

"Huh? Who the heck are you?!", he demanded to know.

"It's okay, Soma", the girl tried to placate him. "His name is Genya Arikado…"

"Skip the introductions", the man cut her off, "I have a few question and I need answers. Now."

"Go… go ahead", Lancer stammered, taken aback by the serious tone in his voice.

"Why have you come here?" Lancer tried to answer as best as he could:

"Why? Well, Mina and I… Hang on!" He frantically looked around as he had just now noticed the scenery around him.

"Where are we?!"

"We are in Dracula's Castle."

"Huh? Dracula's Caste?", he skeptically tilted his head. "Are you telling me, we are in Europe?"

"No", Arikado corrected him, "we are inside the solar eclipse."

"Inside the solar eclipse?!", Lancer repeated unbelieving, "I see… that explains it… not! Are you insane? Do you take me for a fool?!"

"Soma", the girl begged, "please listen to him, he's telling the truth!"

"What the heck are you talking about?!", Lancer raged. "Give me an explanation!"

"Well, it is like this…" Arikado stopped without finishing his sentence and spun around.

"Huh? Enemies!"

All around them appeared walking skeletons in blue armor wielding swords and from the air dove winged skeletons with spears at them, both seemed to be some kind of golems, types of familiars. The girl screamed as she was hit across the chest with a sword and fell down. Arikado raised his fist in the air. A red aura surrounded him and in an explosion of prana it vanished. Now all the enemies around him blew up in a burst of flame, sending their bones in all direction only for them to quickly turn to ashes. All except for one flying skeleton who managed to sneak behind his back, now attacking Lancer, who was standing protectively in front of the girl.

"Damn!", cursed Arikado as he noticed his blunder. Towards Lancer he shouted:

"Protect the girl!" Lancer himself was getting fed up with the situation.

"Argh!", he cursed and took out a pocket knife.

"Get the hell back to were you came from!"

With that he stabbed the airborne golem. Seemingly without any form of combat training he still managed to cut the vertebral column of the familiar. But the same moment the bones shattered in all directions, a red orb flew out of its remains before circling around Lancer and entered his chest.

"Ugh!" The Knight of the Lance staggered back before sinking down at the ground, clutching his chest tightly.

"Wha… what was that thing?", he squeezed out.

"It seems it has awakened", Arikado stated. Lancer looked towards him. Shakingly he stood up.

"What has?", he again demanded to know what the hell was going on. And as it was the most natural thing in the world Arikado replied:

"The spirit of the creature you killed has just entered your body. You have the power to absorb the abilities of all the monsters you kill."

Lancer looked down and inspected his hand. He was flexing it one, two times, as he could feel the new power that was surging through him. Then he looked up again.

"Why… why would I have that kind of power?"

He was looking unsettled, downright disturbed. But Arikado did not seemed to want to answer that question.

"You have this power", he just said, "now you must go to the Master's chamber."

"Huh? Why should I?"

"Do you not wish to return to your own world with your friend?"

Leisurely Arikado gestured at the girl. Lancer looked back. The girl behind him had no visible wounds but still had yet to wake up again. He clenched his teeth and turned back to the man in black.

"Of course I want to go back!", he exclaimed.

"Then you have to go to the Master's chamber", Arikado insisted. "Once you are there, all your questions will be answered!" Their voices faded and Kayneth was not able to make out more of their conversation.

"So…", he mused, "this is the moment Lancer became aware of his power… but I wonder... was it just my imagination or did the castle and the monsters looked different than the current ones?"

* * *

"Look! He's back!", exclaimed a girl with long blue and black hair wearing white Japanese clothes. Kiritsugu recognized her from Saber's descriptions of his **_Hyakki Yakō (My Night Parade of One Hundred Demons)_** as the Yuki-Onna. She was standing next to a Japanese-styled house and around her were the black and blue monks, respectively called Kurotabo and Aotabo. He also was able to make out the Kappa with the eggshell-like hat and Nukukubi with the levitating head. There attention was directed towards a young Saber who was carried by a small Tengu, a crow human.

"What's is the matter, everyone?", the Tengu asked while putting Saber down to the ground.

"W-well", the Yuki-onna stuttered and pointed at the TV inside. The news broadcast depicted an accident. A bus that was buried by a landslide near a tunnel. Saber quickly made his way over to the TV passing an old bald man with a extremely large occiput sitting at a kotatsu and drinking tea. Kiritsugu recognized him at once. Not just from Saber's description but also from the pictures he had gotten himself after he heard of his Servants true identity. Saber had been right. His grandfather, Nurarihyon, looked astoundingly similar to the pictures the Japanese artists had drawn of him.

"Oh, Rikuo, you're home!", the yokai greeted his grandson and then added:

"You sure are lucky." If Kiritsugu were to hazard a guess, Saber usually would have taken the bus – as ridiculous as it sounded for the grandson of the leader of all yokai – and thus would have caught up in the accident. But for some reason he had the Tengu fly him home this time and was spared.

Meanwhile Saber himself didn't listened to anything his grandfather said.

"Bus?", he asked to no one in particular.

"The one Kana's on?!" He slowly backed away from the TV.

"I have to help them!", he shouted and ran out of the house, grabbing the jacket the Yuki-onna held out for him in the process.

"Where are you going?", Nurarihyon asked.

"Isn't it obvious?", Saber responded. "I am going to save Kana! Ao! Kuro! Everyone!" The yokai around him responded affirmative but still rather reserved. Rescuing this Kana didn't seem to have crossed their mind. Especially one giant bald man without a visible mouth bit still long whiskers wearing a big orange mantle stopped them with the words:

"This is not allowed. To go and help human is preposterous!" Saber couldn't understand the reason. Considering he was maybe around eight years old and partly human this wasn't too surprising.

"The emblem of the Nura Clan is "fear"!, he elaborated. This confirmed what Iri had told Kiritsugu about the fight with Gaichuu. But the yokai wasn't finished, yet.

"Yokai are supposed to instill fear in humans! Going to help them? That's just ridiculous! We are the Nura Clan, the yokai headquarters! I won't have a Hyakko Yakō commanded on a humans whim!"

This was an awful amount of politics for members of the Phantasmal Species. He had already had his suspicions when he had heard of the grandson of Nurarihyon being the head of a Yakuza family but now they were stronger than ever. Was Saber really from this world? Or was he from one of the infinite alternative realities that were under the domain of the Wizard Marshall? The Throne of Heroes was outside of space and time, not bound to a single parallel universe. So the Holy Grail probably actually could summon Servants which were not from this reality. It really showed the power of the Holy Grail when the application of yet another True Magic was by a great margin more likely than Phantasmal Species surviving in great numbers into the modern world, building an organization and dealing with politics.

Meanwhile the blue priest had gotten fed up with the old man and was dangerously close to resorting to violence while the others either tried to stop him or running around in panic. Saber himself was trembling. Not out of fear, out of rage. It build up inside of him filling him more and more until it boiled over.

"Stop it!", he shouted, white clouds circling around him due to an ominous wind, probably produced by the prana Saber spilled out into his surroundings, so dense that it was actually visible as white fog. The yokai forgot their dispute and turned towards him as the ground under him glowed and illuminated his figure.

"I don't have time for this!", Saber stated, his fist clenched. He looked at the opposition and unleashed a wave of killing intent that made the other stagger back one step. All the yokai watched in awe as his appearance was changing into something that Kiritsugu recognized as his battle form, only younger.

"If you're not going to listen to me because I'm human…", the Knight of the Sword continued, "then that means I can lead you if I'm a yokai, right? In this case, I'll quit being human!"

After the last shout he sighed to calm down.

"My blood seems to be running hot tonight", he analyzed.

"That is your yokai blood, Master Rikuo", the Tengu explained. Saber looked at him questioningly.

"Yokai blood?", he asked.

"Your grandfather's blood", explained Aotabo, putting himself by his side. "You have every right to lead us, Master Rikuo." More and more yokai surrounded him, showing their desire to follow him.

"You have inherited one-quarter of the Supreme Commander's blood!" The picture became blurry and unclear. Kiritsugu couldn't make out anymore details, though he believed to have seem something like an underground passage. But as the quality of the video decreased drastically, the audio, Saber's voice resounded in his very being:

"I'll lead you all! I'll become the third heir! I will not allow anyone to harm humans. Let it be known to every yokai in the world! That I will become the Lord of Pandemonium! All yokai should follow me on my Hakki Yakō!"

* * *

The next day Waver and Irisviel were playing their newest video game. Gripping the controllers tightly they drove their respective cars down the road, trying to push each other into the railings, forgetting that the actual goal was to reach the finish line. Though considering how much fun those two had, it might just had been deliberatively on their part. Watching closely on both parts of the split-screen were Saber of Red and Rider of Red, the latter banned from active playing after she had destroyed the television before. Even Maiya had been dragged with them as they wanted to show her, just what was it they found so fascinating about this modern invention. But until now she had yet to see the appeal in this game. When she told Irisviel so after being asked, the homunculus joyfully replied:

"That's because you have yet to play for yourself! Wait a moment…"

She activated the brakes on her car and drifted through a curve, going ahead.

"No, you don't!", protested Waver, doubling his effort and trying to clear the distance between them. The goal, however, was already in sight and all his struggles were futile. In just that one moment Irisviel managed to assure her victory.

"Oh, damn it!", cursed Waver. "So close…" Irisviel laughed. She turned around and held the controller towards the other woman.

"And now you!", she urged.

Not really enthusiastic about it, Maiya took the device and Irisviel made space for her. Meanwhile Waver did the same for Saber. Maiya felt the unfamiliar object, while Irisviel explained the controls to her. But in fact she wouldn't have needed to. Just observing the homunculus had told her everything she needed to know to play this game. Saber chose a road and a car for himself, while she at the same time decided on her car. After both participants confirmed their choices, the screen changed and was now showing both cars next to each other on a tarred street in front of a white line with a banner above them depicting "START". Then red numbers appeared one of after another, counting down. "3". "2". "1". "Go!"

At once both participants took off. To say Maiya wasn't bad would be an understatement. She left Saber in her dust… well, not quite _that_ drastically, but except in the beginning there was not one time when her car was behind Saber's. The Knight of the Sword bulged his eyes out as in big bright letters on his part of the screen appeared: "YOU LOSE". Maiya herself didn't showed any reaction towards the "YOU WIN" shining on her part of the screen. Saber turned to face her.

"How?", he wanted to know. For the woman to play the first time and winning right of the bat… he doubted it was beginners luck.

"It was predetermined", she just analyzed. "You always chose the same car instead of adapting your means of transportation to fit the situation at hand." Saber stared at her blankly.

"Could it actually be…"

"… she might be as good as Irisviel", Waver finished the sentence awed. But he wish he didn't as he felt a wave of killing intent coming from his side. He shivered as he turned his head to the right. Irisviel was smiling, but she was surrounded by a dark aura.

"Saber", she said sweetly, making the addressed Servant sweat. "Could you please hand me the controller?"

Way too quickly for a Heroic Spirit that had a quarter of yokai blood he complied to her wishes and made space for her. Irisviel sat down and chose the next road. For some reason or another Maiya herself couldn't help but feel a bit more… enthusiastic about the whole race.

Yet before they could continue further, both tensed noticeable as they felt their alarm going off.

"An enemy?", Irisviel guessed, swiftly making her way over to a crystal ball on the table and proceeding to look for the intruder. Her eyes widened and her fingers clenched when she found him. The intruder was no one else than Jubstacheit von Einzbern, her creator.

* * *

"Why are you here, Old Man Acht", Kiritsugu greeted the old magus skeptically who sat on the opposite site of the table. "Or rather, why are you a Master?" Yes, the Command Seals on his hand were clearly visible, marking him as a Master.

"This would not have happened, if you had done your job properly", he responded with snide in his voice. "Now the failsafe activated and I have been chosen as the second Einzbern Master."

"In our contract you were supposed to give me all information regarding the Heaven's Feel", Kiritsugu countered without batting an eye. "That the failsafe activated even though the conditions were not met, yet, only shows that either the information you gave me were not complete or that someone deliberatively activated the failsafe." If the Old Man wanted to play the blame-game, he would not be able to stop him, but he would prefer to logically analyze the situation at hand.

"Very well", Jubstacheit conceded, "if we assume that you did not in fact miss a secret alliance crossing the safe number of four Servants at a time, the only reasonable conclusion would be someone activating the failsafe on purpose. But only the three founder families know how to achieve this." Which meant the Einzbern, Tohsaka and Matou.

"What reasons would any of them have to activate the failsafe?", Waver made his presence known. At once all the people in the room turned their attention towards him. At first he had been rather intimidated by the old magus, but after listening to the conversation he finally managed to gather up his courage to talk. It probably helped that next to him were Irisviel and both of their Servants, Saber and Rider. Maiya was not with them. After Kiritsugu whispering something towards her, she just nodded and took off. Though they still were five person against one – or rather two, if Rider's and Saber's looks at something behind the old Einzbern's shoulder were any indication.

"He is right", Kiritsugu agreed and turned back to face the head of the Einzbern family, "Tohsaka Tokiomi does not gain any advantages from activating the failsafe. The Tohsaka family has no second candidate for the title of Master. For him it only increased the competition. Matou Zouken on the other hand…"

"He wasn't the one responsible for this", Jubstacheit interrupted. "Though it is true that he benefits greatly from the activation of the failsafe, he already had directed all his efforts into winning the next Holy Grail War before the failsafe activated. And even now he cannot hope to claim the Holy Grail without support and had to ask me for help."

"And you accepted", stated Kiritsugu. It wasn't a question.

"Yes, I did", Jubstacheit admitted without any hesitation or justification. Even though outwardly, he was the same as ever, Kiritsugu tensed inside. He really didn't care, who brought him the Holy Grail, didn't he?

"Then why are you here?", the magus killer inquired.

"Do not think, I have forgotten our agreement", the head of the Einzbern family responded. "In fact, it is the reason of this visit. Because of the increasing size of the alliances, I have decided that it is finally time that we put our forces together."

"Does this offer extent to Master Velvet?" Waver was surprised that Kiritsugu was the one to bring this up. He had thought the Master of Saber would cut his ties with him, to reunite with the other Einzbern Master. He was, after all, a rather weak magus… no, wait, he couldn't! They have both signed Self-Geis Scrolls! They literally couldn't attack each other until Caster of Black was defeated.

"Yes, it does", Jubstacheit confirmed.

"I do not want to be presumptuous", Waver chimed in, "but why did you not decided to contact Master Emiya right when you received your Servant?"

"A reasonable question", Jubstacheit admitted. "The truth is, I had grown doubt that Master Emiya wasn't truly up to the task. So I didn't made efforts to combine our forces until he had proven otherwise."

"Then I guess, I did", Kiritsugu stated and even though it wasn't a question, Jubstacheit confirmed it anyway:

"Yes. Do you follow my reasoning?" Kiritsugu pondered for a moment.

"I do", he replied. "If Master Velvet has nothing against it, I agree with your proposal." He looked towards Velvet, who nodded.

"Then it is settled."

"Wait!", Saber, who had stayed silent the whole time, interrupted right in this moment, "can I ask a question, beforehand?" Jubstacheit wasn't pleased.

"A familiar is not supposed to speak up in the affairs of the Masters!" Saber got angry at that.

"Why have you Saver of Black?!", he shouted, his fist clenched as invisible behind Jubstacheit von Einzbern stood really the boy with the appearance of an angel.

"Saver of Black?", repeated Waver not believing what he had heard. "Wasn't that Caster's Servant?!"

"Indeed", Jubstacheit confirmed, "and if the familiar hadn't interrupted us so rudely, I would have told you about our current battle prowess in due time."

"You have to excuse Saber", Kiritsugu placated him, "he had been fighting against Caster just recently. Please tell me about the other Masters and Servants."

"I understand. My current Servant is Saver of Black. Matou Zouken currently supervises Assassin and Caster of Black, while Caster itself controls Rider of Black. The last member is Matou Byakuya who had summoned Avenger of Black."

"Are you really going to team up with a guy that's friendly towards Caster of all people?!", Saber raged against his Master. Kiritsugu just looked at him coldly.

"I fail to see what the problem is", he told his Servant. "Enemies and allies change constantly."

"You…", whatever insult he wanted to throw at his Master got stuck in his throat. Instead he clenched his fists. But soon enough he unclenched them and just sighed.

"You really are like Saver, aren't you?", he mused. He didn't wanted to admit it, but his actions really were similar to the ones of that evil god. Even if he did that to save the world and his daughter. But the end did not always justified the means. What would he tell his daughter, when she asked, what he did to save her?!

"Now, if you have no more questions or anything else you think important to mention. I will take my leave. Please prepare this castle for our arrival."

Jubstacheit von Einzbern stood up.

"Of course", Kiritsugu responded as he also stood up, knowing very well that the Einzbern castle was bigger than the Matou residence and thus more likely to hold all those people without it getting crowded, even though the Matou should have better protection right now since Caster of Black had already stayed there for some time.

Both Master shook hands and Kiritsugu escorted the older magus outside.

"I'll be looking forward to continue working with you", the magus killer said and Jubstacheit nodded.

"I feel the same."

Suddenly Saver of Black materialized next to his Master and a small object hit his right shoulder. Kiritsugu jumped back into the entrance while drawing a machine gun and sending a mental 'Kill him!' towards his Servant. Saber of Red was too shocked to react but instead Rider in full battle gear jumped over Kiritsugu and held her shield high up in the air. But instead of throwing it like she used to do, she transformed it right there and with the legs of the construct close together she used it like a giant club against Saver.

"_Divine Feet_!", shouted Saver of Black and met her construct with a sword of light, knocking it away. Rider used the momentum to spin around and hit her opponent even harder from the other direction. But that proved to be as futile as the previous one as it was blocked by a second _Divine Feet_. Before Rider could react, Saver created a _Grand Cross_ and erupted it point-black in her face. Thanks to her **Magic Resistance** it was cancelled at it hit her and she was spared any damage. Seeing that didn't work Saver decided to switch to hand-to-hand combat. He flew upwards and hit her with his clenched fist. Rider was thrown out of the seat and flew to the ground. Quickly she jumped up again, dismissing the construct and summoning one gear as a shield and charged at her enemy.

"What is it with all those magic resilient worms around here?!", he snarled and caught her sword with his left arm. But he couldn't block the shield that Rider slammed into his abdomen at full force.

"Is that everything you can do?!"

Instead of bending over, Saver just shrugged it off, lifted her by her sword up and threw her into the castle wall. Meanwhile Jubstacheit hadn't moved an inch but he still not succumbed to the bullets out of Kiritsugu's and Maiya's firearms as the trees of the forest uprooted themselves, flew towards him and build a protective wall around him.

"What is the meaning of this, Emiya?!", the head of the Einzbern accused the magus killer from behind his protection. But he didn't answered and told his Servant one more time to attack his employer. Saber managed to get out of his stupor, materialized his katana and charged forward. He didn't knew what the hell was going on. No, that wasn't correct. He managed to conclude that his Master for some reason or another didn't wanted to team up with the other Master and had feigned acceptance to make him lower his guard. It seemed, he had to apologize to him later on.

Wham! Before Saber even got close to his adversary, a tree impacted at his side, sending him flying through the air. Why hadn't he been able to react in time?! It was true that he was not in his Battle-Form and thus a lot weaker and slower, but even E was still the equivalent of ten humans. Wait! Saver's **Counter Hero**?! So it even effected him when he was using **Double Identity** and wasn't even directly engaging the Servant?! He turned to Spirit Form to protect himself from any damage he might receive from the collusion with whatever he was flying against.

'Protect Irisviel!', Saber received a different mental command. He frowned. Why? He still could activate his Reality Marble! And Irisviel wasn't even at the door anymore. Regardless, he did as he was asked, phasing through walls and ceilings to get to his Master's wife.

Saber was directed elsewhere, but Kiritsugu received some surprising support from Rider's Master. Waver did not knew why the other Master had suddenly decided to attack, but he had realized that Saber's Master was someone who had fought and lived through some wars and thus had accumulated more combat experience than him. So, he summoned the black gauntlet and the column of rotating segments and extended it abruptly towards the Einzbern magus, shredding all the trees in its way. It smashed into the place he stood or rather, the place he had stood just a moment before. Waver's eyes widened as Jubstacheit evaded the attack by flying backwards without moving a muscle. He spared Waver just one derogatory look and then turned his attention back towards Kiritsugu.

"I'll remember this, Emiya!", he declared and vanished into the woods.

"And I was having so much fun!", Saver of Black complained but complied to his Master's mental orders and turned into Spirit Form. The old magus knew that even though they might have the advantage right now, once Saber of Red activated his Reality Marble that would be different. Saver could still not activate his Noble Phantasm, so it would be unreasonable to expect him to go against the **Hyakki Yakō (My Night Parade of One Hundred Demons)**. And once a Reality Marble was deployed, there was no escape. He would have later enough time to punish Emiya for betraying him.

Kiritsugu watched the enemy retreat. It was regrettable but he had to let Jubstacheit get away. Now that their surprise attack failed, he had them at a disadvantage. Not because of the strength of the Servant, but because of the number of allies or to be precise, one specific ally: Assassin of Black. Now that every Master had its own vessel, her status didn't protected Irisviel anymore. In fact, it made her even more of a target since destroying the opponents vessel meant getting them out of the war. So it was possible, for Assassin to target Irisviel while Jubstacheit was stalling them. He couldn't risk that.

It was also Assassin who made him attack right at this moment. Usually he would have waited until a better opportunity presented itself and pretended to work with them for some time. Until the odds of success were nearly 100 percent. But he didn't had the luxury this time. Again thanks to Assassin of Black. Or specifically, his ability to read thoughts. He didn't deluded himself into thinking he could deceive the Noble Phantasm of a Servant. And so right now had been the only time he could catch the old magus by surprise. But his Servant Saver of Black foiled that plan.

Maiya caught up to him and together they ventured inside were the others waited for them. Only there he told his assistant the next steps:

"Maiya, please contact el-Melloi and tell him, we accept his proposal." He turned to face Waver.

"You have no problems with that, do you?" The Master of Rider shook his head. Even if it would be difficult to face his old teacher, this was for now the best option.

"Though, if I may ask", he added, "why did you decide to turn down Master Einzbern's offer?"

"Jubstacheit von Einzbern has shown that he cannot be trusted", he elaborated. Saber of Red, who had just wanted to apologize for doubting his Master, had the words got stuck in his throat. So the reason he attack him wasn't their morality but calculation. Saber sighed. Kiritsugu seemed to notice this as he sent through their mental link:

'Make no mistake, Saber. My actions are just like Angra Mainyu's. But if it means the salvation of the world, I will gladly take upon myself all the evils in the world!'

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

I have to confess I totally forgot about Maiya as a character. Since I had seen her more like Kiritsugu's add-on I had forgotten to do some character development for her or even make scenes with her without Kiritsugu. So, I decided to include a little rivalry between Irisviel and Maiya that had nothing to do with the Holy Grail War.

I also hope, I have managed to make Kiritsugu's reasoning at last mostly sound. Writing someone on his level of intelligence and preparedness is a real pain, I tell you.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: Saver of Black**

Master: Jubstacheit von Einzbern  
True Name: Lucemon  
Sex: male  
Strength: C  
Endurance: B  
Agility: C  
Mana: C  
Luck: D  
Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Counter Hero: B  
Induces an effective 2-rank parameter reduction against any opponent that can be classified as a 'Hero.' The parameter-down effect is reduced by one rank in the circumstance that the opponent is of the 'Antihero' category.

Charisma: E-  
Leadership-skill of a tyrant.

Skills

Independent Action: B  
Capable of remaining in this world for two days without an established contract. Also capable of living on for a short period of time after suffering extensive damage on his spiritual core.

Honoring Sacrifice: A+  
Doubles the amount you gain every time you kill someone to absorb their prana.

Absorption: B  
Allows for absorbing other people's data to increase ones performance.

Noble Phantasm

**Evolution: To Reach New Highs**  
Rank: B; Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person  
Allows to transform the user into a more powerful form after assimilating a certain amount of prana and data.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Rider of Red**

Master: Waver Velvet  
True Name:  
Sex: female  
Strength: C  
Endurance: B  
Agility: A+  
Mana: A  
Luck: D  
Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Riding: A  
All creatures but those of _Phantasmal Beast_ and _Divine Beast_-rank can be used as mounts.

Magic Resistance: B  
Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Skills

Mental Pollution: D  
Provides a small probability that mental interference magecraft will be rendered ineffective. In the condition that the Servant's master is of Evil alignment, and perpetrates acts of cruelty against the Servant, Mental Pollution will increase in rank, further increasing defenses against magecraft. However, as the Servant's psyche is inherently broken, this may result in irreversible deterioration.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1  
_**Rang: C; Anti-Army; Range: 1-99; Targets: 1000 people  
A giant spider-like construct with wheels, capable of high-speed movements and turns. It is also capable of firing an unlimited amount of macarons from its mouth.

**Another: I Am the One Who Takes on Your Pain**  
Rang: B; Anti-Team; Range: 30-99; Targets: 1000 people  
Rider's Reality Marble. Enemies inside it will hear voices which results in a loss of concentration and decreased reaction speed. Especially effective against those with the skill "Mad Enhancement".

**_Noble Phantasm #3_**  
Rang: A; Anti-Unit; Range: 10; Targets: 1 person  
If Rider is in peril and a person she holds dear, wants to help her, the person in question will then gain a power corresponding to the card of the Major Arcana the person is most compatible with.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Saber of Red**

Master: Emiya Kiritsugu  
True Name: Nura Rikuo  
Sex: Male  
Strength: B  
Endurance: A  
Agility: B  
Mana: C  
Luck: D  
Noble Phantasm: A+

Class Abilities

Magic Resistance: B  
Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Riding: A+  
Creatures on the level of _Phantasmal Beast_ and _Divine Beast_ can be used as mounts. However, that does not apply to members of the _Dragon Kind._

Skills

Charisma: C  
Is the natural talent to command an army. Increases the ability of allies during group battles.  
Suitable to lead an army.

Double Identity: ?  
A skill given to those, who have adopted two distant personalities that even people who witnessed the change, might think of them as two people.  
It allows Saber to take on a weaker, prana-saving form. Most Noble Phantasm cannot be used in this form and it has to be completely devoid of sunlight, for Saber to switch back.

Noble Phantasm

**Meikyō Shisui: Ripples on the Surface**  
Rank: C; Anti-Army; Range: 0-20; Targets: 200 people  
A technique that shifts oneself into the blind spots of ones opponents.

**Kyōka Suigetsu: The Moon Reflected on the Surface of a Puddle**  
Rank: B; Anti-Army; Range: 0-20; Targets: 200 people

**Nenekirimaru: The Ancestral Shrine Round Cut Off**  
Rank: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Phantasmal/Anti-Spirit; Range: 1-2; Targets: 1 person  
A Japanese katana forged by an Onmyouji. After cutting, the sword places a curse on its victim, forcing it to rapidly losing health and refusing the wound to close.

**Hyakki Yakō: My Night Parade of One Hundred Demons**  
Rank: A+; Anti-Army; Range: 1-99; Targets: 1000 people  
A Reality Marble that summons all the Phantasmal Species who have served under Saber. It is not a true Reality Marble, but rather a mystery, created by the combined power of Saber's followers.

**Matoi: To Use the Fear of your People**  
Rank: A+; Anti-Army/Anti-Fortress; Range: 0-99; Targets: 1000 people  
Mounting the subordinate's fear on the leader's blade and then firing this amplified attack at the enemy.

**Matoi: To Wear the Fear of your People**  
Rank: A+; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0-99; Targets: 1 person  
The leader wraps his subordinate's fear about himself like a kimono and then they align their two hearts.


	35. Chapter 34: Dark Negotiations

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, **Shin XIX**, **Rebelblade71** and **coronadomontes**,

Chapter 34: Dark Negotiations

"**I am BOOOOOOOOOOOORED!**", Ryuunosuke complained as he laid down at the floor and looked up to the ceiling. Meanie was gone away to do some painting and he was left behind. Usually he would have gone off on his own to have some fun but he couldn't. All thanks to Meanie who had put some paper slips with strange scribbles around him.

Now, the slips weren't really a problem. The problem were the invisible walls that always appeared with them. He had already tried finding a way out by covering them completely with his liquid body and so knew, there was none. After that he kept himself amused by changing his shape into the various people that were on Meanie's paintings he had glued on the walls. But after some time he had gone through all of them and then he didn't knew what else to do.

"**It's boooooooring, boooooooring, boring, boring, BOOOOOOOOOOORING! Boring, booooooooring, boring, boring~, bo-o-o-oo-o-o-oo-o-ooooooring!**" He raised his arms in the air and transformed his fingers into kanji that spelled out the word "boring".

"If your idea of exiting is killing innocents, I'd rather have you bored."

"**Meanie!**", Ryuunosuke acknowledged his Servant's presence. Actually he had been raised better than to call someone names but Meanie was an exception. He destroyed all his art, stopped him from creating any new and now even kept him locked in. He couldn't help himself calling him that.

Right now Caster of Red was taking away the paper slips and Uryuu quickly tested if he could walk through the previous boundary, or rather jump as a blood puddle. The Servant didn't battered an eye as the thick liquid moved closely past him and hit the floor with an audible splash before morphing back into a humanoid shape.

"**I'm free!**", he exclaimed. "**Now I can finally have some fun!**" Caster stood up and turned to face his Master.

"Why do you insist on killing people?", he asked him accusingly.

"**Why do you always stop me?!**", came the angry retort.

"You mean, besides the fact that killing people is wrong?"

"**But there are 5 billions of them! And every day around thousand die and are born! I can't make that much of a difference, can I?!**"

"I have seen enough innocent people die. Even one more is one too many!"

"**That is why I make their deaths as cooooooooooooooool as possible.**" Caster of Red narrowed his eyes.

"There are no cool deaths!", he stated firmly with traces of anger in his voice.

"**Really?! Then what would you call it if not cooooooooool?!**"

"Cruel!"

"**Cruel? All I do is gaining as much information from their deaths as possible! More information than their short life would have given!**" Caster blinked.

"You do this to gain information?!"

"**Why else should I do this?**" 'For fun' would have been the obvious answer since everything he said and did pointed into that direction.

"Aren't there other ways to gain the knowledge you want?"

"**How?! Everywhere else there are only cheap imitations! The closest I have seen someone get to the real deal is with your paintings but even they do not catch all the aspects of reality, ouch!**"

Their conversation was cut short, when a bolt of pain went through Ryuunosuke's right hand where a set of three Command Seals in the shape of a claw were barely visible. Quickly Caster grabbed his Master and pulled him away from the beam of light that suddenly blasted through the walls of the room.

"**Whoa! COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!**", Uryuu shouted as he twisted his "head" in an unnatural manner to look better at the place where the attack came from. His gaze fell upon Archer of Black who stood in the hole and pointed his gun at them.

"So you managed to dodge that", the gun-wielding Knight of the Bow stated.

"Archer!", Pestilence called out to his Servant. "What are you doing?! We are supposed to ask them for an alliance… not defeat them." Archer lowered his revolver.

"If they are defeated by something like that, they wouldn't be of any use to us." Any response from Pest got stuck in his throat as he reached his Servant and got a look at Caster's Master.

"…a dead apostle?!", he gasped but Caster shook his head.

"No, he isn't, even if he looks like it. This makes him the opposite to you guys, doesn't it?"

"**What's a dead – how did you call it again?**", the Master in question wanted to know, he spun around still held by Caster and shifted his liquid body around so that he stood upright with both of his feet on the ground.

"Vampires", his Servant explained to him.

"One of the different vampiric species", Pest corrected.

"**Coooooooooooooooooooool! Vampires exist, too?! I wanna see one!**"

"I am one", Pest revealed. Ryuunosuke stared at him.

"**Huh… but you look just like a normal human! I thought vampires would look cooler…**"

"Are you going to chat all day?!", Archer interrupted angrily. "We are here for a reason!"

"Right.", Pest admitted and got himself back on focus. "I am Kirainakuuki Fuyita and this is my Servant Archer of Black. We want you to create a coalition with us."

"**For what?**"

"I refuse!" Uryuu looked at his Servant.

"**Oh? Does it involve killing people?!**" After all, why else would Meanie reject him so quickly? Hehe. He was so smart.

"Yes and that is why we won't take part in it." He knew it!

"**Meanie!**" Pest stared at them.

"Doesn't he know…", he started but was cut off by Caster himself. Ryuunosuke looked confused from one to the other. Knew what?

"No. And I want to keep it this way."

"**What are you talking about**?"

"Or what?!", Archer of Black ignored the Master and instead settled on mocked the other Servant. "You are going to kill us?!" Killing? They could kill?

"Your Master is a dead apostle. He won't die if I kill him without using my Noble Phantasm." Wait!

"**That's unfair! Why can you kill and I not?!**"

"It won't kill him even if I destroy his body. It will just stop him from talking."

"**Does that mean, I can kill him?!**" His eyes were filled with glee, even if one could not see that easily because of his different body.

"If they attack or reveal secrets, I won't stop you."

"**Coooooooooooooool! Please, attack, please, please~!**"

"It seems negotiation have failed", Pest sighed and Archer smiled behind his mask.

"Finally", the Knight of the Bow laughed.

"We have the order to kill you if you don't comply", the dead apostle explained, "are you sure?"

"I won't let you kill my Master, even if my old self would have gladly done so himself."

"I wanna see you try, _Caster_!" , shouted Archer, raising his weapon again.

"**COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!**", Ryuunosuke screamed and rushed at Pestilence, who turned part of his skin into bow and arrow.

* * *

"Kayneth", addressed Lancer of Red his Master, "we have visitors."

"Visitors?", repeated the magus. "Is it them?"

"No… you should probably take a look at this." Kayneth followed his Servant to the room with the multiple paintings. Sola-Ui and Kariya were already there but his attention was at once directed at the centre picture. It belonged to the "Peeping Eye" stationed in the ceiling of the entrance hall and showed a group of well-known people.

"Zouken!", growled Kariya and indeed, the old Master was indeed present. But he was not alone. Jubstacheit von Einzbern, Matou Byakuya as well as Caster of Black stood right next to him. And Lancer was able to make out all their Servants invisible behind them, with the exception of Avenger, who was actually visible even for the Masters and was chewing on a cigarette, a broom nonchalant over her shoulder. To make it short: the complete alliance.

"They said, they wanted to talk", Lancer explained, "though why they decided to come with the full package, I don't know."

Kayneth el-Melloi Archibald looked at the scene in front of him. Matou and Einzbern, two of the three families that created the Heaven's Feel in the first place. And Caster of Black, one of the two Servants who managed to summon a Servant for themselves. Certainly a group of people with important names.

"Regardless", Kayneth responded, "we should welcome our guests!"

"Master", Lancer of Red stopped him, "if I may suggest…"

* * *

"Excuse me for keeping you waiting", the Master of Lancer greeted the newcomers as he walked down the giant stairs. "I welcome you to my humble home!" Next to him were his Servant at one side and Sola-Ui at the other, behind him Berserker and his Master. The latter was growling and intensively staring at Matou Zouken.

"Please let me show my hospitality by showing you to the living room and offer you some refreshments."

"Thank you very much", the Einzbern Master responded, "I do not want to offend you, but I have to decline. We are here for business."

"I understand", Lord El-Melloi acknowledged. It seems they weren't too trusting. Lancer's castle was still an unknown for them and so they didn't dared to venture further inside. "Lancer!"

At once a big wooden table and multiple red armchairs appeared. Usually Lancer would have probably given some snarky remark but in the presence of others they had to present an united front.

"What can I do for you?", he asked them after they all sat down. Well, half at last. He, his wife, Matou Kariya as well as Zouken and Jubstacheit von Einzbern took a seat while their Servants positioned themselves behind them. Interesting to note was the fact, that Byakuya himself hadn't sat down and instead Caster of Black did. Just by observing who positioned himself where, one could draw conclusions about their chain of commands. Like the leader, the Master Einzbern in the center with Caster and Zouken left and right.

At last that was what they wanted to show them. It was probably not completely true. They themselves had an alliance where he might be the official leader, but Kariya would get the wish. It was probably correct to assume that the others would stab each other in the back as soon as all their adversaries were defeated.

"Definitively!", Assassin of Black shouted with a sinister smile. "But that's what makes it so interesting!"

Kayneth frowned.

"His Noble Phantasm had the ability to read minds, indeed. This puts anybody trying to negotiate with them into a tight spot", Assassin of Black said.

"Is that what you were thinking?! But I did not activate it, just for the sake of this conversation! I have this one always active! Yes, it's just like you are thinking, I don't need a lot of prana for this!"

"Can we now get to the actual point of the meeting?", Jubstacheit interrupted Assassin's ramblings, but the not-so-silent killer had yet to finish.

"You mean teaming up with them?! Happy, happy. This is going to be fun! He is, after all, just waiting for Kiritsugu to show up!"

"What?!", Jubstacheit von Einzbern shouted enraged. Assassin cackled.

"They even summoned monsters looking like furniture in case it comes to a fight!"

Lancer and Berserker of Red grabbed their Masters and Sola-Ui and jumped away. Not a moment too early as a silver flash cut down the chairs and the table. Lancer and Berserker kept their human partners behind them and drew their weapons. Rider, Saver and Assassin did the same, the latter two smiling, opposite to Avenger who just kept chewing bored on her cigarette. Though she did put the broom protectively in front of her.

"Happy, happy", Assassin chanted. Zouken looked at his son… disapprovingly to say the least.

"I never would have thought you would dare to cross me, Kariya!", he stated. "I am disappointed in you!" Kariya growled but was stopped from responding by Kayneth who held out his arm in front of him, his eyes narrowing down on Zouken. His gesture actually made the hostile Servants curious enough for them to stop in their tracks, for now at last.

"Are you insulting me?!", asked Lord El-Melloi the head of the Matou family harshly. Lancer blinked surprised. The jab was obviously directed towards the Master of Berserker of Red, so why did Kayneth felt offended? Did that mean that any insult to his partners was an insult to him? That was one aspect of his Master, he had yet to see.

"You failed to contact your representative and inform him of your additional participation. Building an alliance with someone else was the only way to ensure our victory!"

"It is true that we took our time with contacting you", Jubstacheit admitted, "but we had to make sure you weren't the one who deliberately activated the failsafe. Furthermore, how do you explain the trap you set for us?!"

"Now that Kiritsugu accepted my offer, my pride as a magi would not let me stand idle by should he decide to attack his enemy in front of my eyes. And thanks to Rider of Red this would inevitably happen. Should you decide to disengage right now before Kiritsugu appears, this would be different."

"Then shouldn't we rather start now?", Assassin asked with glee, but Zouken held him back.

"Before, I would prefer to know what my _dear_ son thinks about it."

"I'll kill you, Zouken!", Kariya promised but his father just continued to smile.

"Oh, really? Did you forgot about Sakura?" Sakura? Lancer of Red, Berserker of Red and Caster of Black perked up but it was Assassin of Black who talked:

"Oh, you mean the girl that…"

"_By the power of this Command Seal I order you to stop telling everybody about the things I deem a secret!_" Before the Not-so-silent Killer could talk further Zouken used the might of the Command Seals to keep him from spilling what looked like sensitive information.

"-ugh… you!" Suddenly Assassin crossed the distance between them and with one swift motion cut of the head of his Master.

"Take that back!", he roared madly. And not in his usual "insane-and-happy" kind of madness but the "and-if-it-kills-me-I'll-kill-you" kind of madness. "Take that back! Don't stop me from talking! The voices… Take that BACK!"

"I did not forbid you from talking at all", the detached head replied without hostility in its voice, "but there are things I want to keep secret, you understand?"

Apparently Assassin didn't as he carved up the head in a lot more pieces which together with the body turned into a pile of worms. But that was still not enough and he ran out of the front door probably to go and find his Master and kill him some more times.

"I have to admit, this was surprising", confessed Caster of Black and Lancer as well as Berserker, Kayneth and his wife had to agree.

"So", Berserker changed the topic, "what is the deal with Sakura and Zouken?"

"Once I give Zouken the Holy Grail he will give Sakura to me", Kariya explained. Berserker was dumbfounded.

"Wait", he interrupted, "you mean Sakura is Zouken's hostage?!" When Kariya had said he wanted the Holy Grail to save Sakura he had assumed she had an incurable illness or something along the line. Something that would require a miracle. He hadn't thought that someone would keep her hostage and demand the Holy Grail for her release, forcing Kariya to participate in this War.

"You are wrong", disputed Jubstacheit von Einzbern, "Matou Sakura is the heir of the Matou family. Whatever deal is between Zouken and Kariya, it is a business of the Matou family!" Berserker groaned. Just great, nobles. They were everywhere.

"Berserker, we are going", said Kariya while walking past Kayneth without looking back. But his Servant himself blocked his way.

"And do what?", he inquired. "Help these guys get the Holy Grail?!"

"I will save Sakura." It didn't take a genius to figure out he didn't meant taking her away from the old guy like a knight in shining armor but complying to his every whim in hope of Sakura getting set free after the whole ordeal was over.

"Do you really think, he is going to let her go, after everything is over?"

"A familiar is not supposed to speak up in the affairs of its Master!", Jubstacheit cut off any reply. Why did all those tools suddenly decide to speak out of turn?! This was what happened, when you didn't had your Servant under control!

"We are going back", he stated and opposite to Berserker of Red, his Servant obeyed without question. Caster waved towards Lancer and chimed:

"Good-bye, big brother!"

Suddenly the door was pushed open violently and a well-known voice shouted:

"Objection!"

"You don't even know what they are talking about", a female voice pointed out calmly.

"No", the first admitted, "but when do you think I would get the opportunity to say this ever again?!"

"You are right… Objection!" Her companion sweat-dropped.

"I think you are too late for that", he commented.

"If you are allowed to do that, I am too!", she proclaimed.

"Touché."

"Saver of Red", greeted Kayneth the newcomer, as it was indeed him that had come in so rudely, while Berserker chose a simple "Yo." and Lancer a "Hello." More interesting were the reactions of Jubstacheit and his accompanists.

"Hello, big brother!", spoke Caster of Black as Saver of Black's welcoming was just a "_Divine Feet_" that was dispersed easily by Saver of Red's **_Casa Di Logistilla (Destruction Declaration)_** just like before.

"Howdy, Saver", the irregular Master acknowledged his black counterpart, "how is it going?"

"I'll destroy you, worm!", he promised but it only served to make Saver of Red laugh.

"And how are you doing, Caster of Black?", he asked the Servant in the form of a child. "Still going around eating children?"

"No, not anymore, not after I found out that children aren't a healthy form of nourishment."

"I knew I should have saved that book for later", Saver sighed. "Well, I am here for a reason."

"And what would that be?", inquired Jubstacheit von Einzbern. Saver of Red. Not only that he was one of the two Servants who had the delusion that they could take the role of Master, he also claimed to be Angra Mainyu, the evil god of Zoroaster. That was the first time they met face to face and nothing on this Servant suggested him being of divine origin. Unfortunately he couldn't take this as evidence as Angra Mainyu was known to be able to take on human form to fool people.

"Oh, just something minor: The death of Caster." He turned his head to the left.

"The black version of course."

Sola-Ui followed his gaze and had to suppress a yelp as she noticed Caster of Red sitting there on top of the railing and drawing pictures. When did he appeared?! It seemed she had spoken aloud as Lancer answered her question:

"Right after the Einzbern destroyed the 'Poltergeists'." Seriously, it was like that guy could teleport… which he probably could, since he was a Heroic Spirit of the Caster class.

"Waah, big brother is mean!", mock-cried Caster. "What did I ever do to you?"

"To me? Nothing I can think of. But you did try to kill my Master and his future girlfriend, so I have to kill you out of principle. Not to forget you are an enemy Servant I have trouble killing alone, so I should take every opportunity I can, shouldn't I?"

"Matou Kariya", Jubstacheit von Einzbern addressed the Master of Berserker, "now is the time to show where your true loyalties lie! Use your Servant and take out Saver of Red!"

"Huh, interesting", mused the irregular Servant, "so, what are you going to do, Kariya?"

"Berserker", he addressed the not-mad Servant, "kill Saver of Red!"

"I refuse." Berserker promptly declined. He had met all different kinds of people. He himself was a Shinigami and one of his best friends was a Quincy, even though the Shinigami nearly wiped them out. He even helped him rescue Rukia from the Shinigami who were all just manipulated by group of three Shinigami let by Aizen.

Along the way he had fought and made friends with some of them and got to know most of them as decent people – one becoming even a close friend. And when they went to rescue Orihime, he came with them. There he even established a bound of mutual respect with one Arrancer, their soul-devouring enemies and found friends in three more. That was what taught Berserker not to look at ones reputation but at their actions.

"I will not team up with someone who kills innocent human or takes hostages to make others do their biddings!", he loudly proclaimed and pointed his katana at Jubstacheit.

"It seems you do not have your Servant under your control", the old Einzbern Master noted derogative.

"_Berserker, by the power of this Command Seal I order you to kill this Saver!_" Berserker tried to resist but it was futile. Even someone with a **Magic Resistance** of Rank B would have to follow the orders of a Command Seal and his was completely nonexistent.

But at the same time he directed his sword at Saver of Red, the Servant in question had already taken out one book and one piece of paper and uttered the name of the first while Berserker charged at him:

"**_De servitude, libertati christianae non contraria (Slavery Is not in Conflict with Christian Liberty)_**!"

A surge of prana went through Saver of Red and without pausing he used part of it to activate the paper in his other hand:

"**_Pot of Wisdom (Shattering of the Stories)_**!"

Berserker held his blade protectively in front of him as a surge of pages pressed against it. But now Caster sent her black arrows to attack from one side and Saver of Black a "_Grand Cross_" from the other. Avenger decided to sit this one out. Even though she didn't like her Master, she couldn't just let him die, which would undoubtedly happen should she take off. So, she rather kept a close eye on the enemy Servants.

"**_Als ich ein kleiner Junge war (Not Everything Seen by Children Should be Told to Children)_**!"

But it wasn't Saver who called out the name of this Noble Phantasm. It was Brawler who activated the book so that all arrows and the spheres in the shape of planets were absorbed into it.

"What?!", raged Saver of Black but with his failure Rider took the initiative. There was not enough space for him to summon his mount without endangering his Master or any of the other ones currently fighting on his site. That's why he charged at Brawler. Well, "charged" may be a bit overstated. His Agility might be ten times higher than a human, but to someone like Brawler, whose physical abilities and **Instinct** were augmented by her Noble Phantasm he might just have been standing still.

Gracefully she jumped over his sword strike and sent a torrent of air at Caster and Saver of Black. The latter took flight while a plate with an arrow appeared, sending her swiftly out of danger. Rider disregarded Brawler of Red and continued forward towards Saver of Red. But he had planned for that. He already had switched out the book with a stone plate and pointed it at Rider, as it shattered into dozens of pebbles, before merging together into the form of an Egyptian whip.

"**_The Loyalist Teaching (Children, Uphold Your Duties to the Pharaoh and Society)_**!", he shouted and directly under it the earth ripped open and an army of Egyptian warriors and workers charged roaring at the Knight of the Mount. Even though he made short work out of everyone who reached him, their never-ending numbers made it impossible for him to continue forward.

But the moment Saver took to stop Rider was used by Berserker to jump and run in the air above the torrent of paper towards him. He only managed to block him by engulfing himself in a white cocoon of paper that threw the not-mad Servant backwards. But now Rider had found a gap and quickly went over the crack in the ground to cut the cocoon in half. All those who tried to stop and actually managed to strike at him, started screaming in pain and to quickly rot before dispersing in black ashes. Unhindered he fulfilled his objective, but as the pages fell down, Saver of Red was nowhere in sight.

"He teleported?!", voiced Berserker full disbelief but Rider's stare and a "Not quiet" from behind made him spin around and the influence of the Command Seal forced him to charge at Saver of Red who, hidden inside the storm of papers had switched locations and was now flying in the air, white glowing wings extended from his shoes, another books in his right hand and a parchment in his left. He threw the book behind himself and shouted:

"**_Zohar (Book of Light)_**, _j__e__hi or__!_"

At once the book glowed in a blinding light which interfered with Berserker's vision even though the actual source was blocked by Saver's silhouette. But as the command had been "kill" he could not back down and so made his way towards the flying Servant. However, Saver did not thought it would stop him, he activated it for a different reason. In fact, only so that he could activate another one of his Noble Phantasm:

"**_The Raven (Nevermore)_**!"

Suddenly Berserker stopped. And he did it not out of surprise as the effect of the Command Seal would have made him continue regardless. No, he was literally unable to move. And so was Rider of Black for that matter. Smiling the irregular Servant looked down at them before stating:

"Kagemane no Jutsu, Success!" While Berserker stared at him dumbfounded he took out the "**_Casa Di Logistilla (Destruction Declaration)_**" to disperse a "_Grand Cross_" that had been sent towards him.

"Go and play with Brawler, I am busy!", he shouted towards his enraged black counterpart but despite his words he did activate "**_Dr. Fausts vierfacher Höllenzwang (To Control the Ghosts of the Four Elements)_**!" and sent out the four elemental animals to assist his Servant before turning his attention towards Lancer, who had been just standing there the whole time.

"Ya still need Berserker?", he asked him nonchalant as if he was talking about the weather and not about killing someone. Considering he was supposed to be Angra Mainyu, there was probably not really any difference for him.

The Knight of the Lance turned towards his Master.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Kayneth didn't need much thought on it.

"Kariya has chosen his side", he answered, "without Kiritsugu we will not attack him but we won't defend him either!"

"Good to know", responded Saver of Red and took out another book and one "Black Key".

"**_Traité du monde et de la lumière (Treatise on the Light)_**!"

With that he threw the rapier-like dagger directly at Berserker's head. And although the not-mad Servant was a bid angry at his situation, he wasn't angry at Saver going for the kill. At last it would stop him from helping that Zouken.

Or so he thought but half-way a package of cigarettes was thrown in front of the Black Key, releasing its glowing content in the air, before they all exploded, resulting in a giant smoke screen. Berserker found that he could move again and again was forced to continue his assault.

First he and Rider went to opposite sides, away from the Black Key that was flying through the air unhindered until it met the ground, before jumping into the air in a pincer attack, even though for a real one both of their speed were too different so that Berserker was the first to reach his opponent. This time Saver had not taken out a book but his sword and used this to block the not-mad warrior. The he pushed himself away while doing a backwards roll in the air to avoid Rider's sword. Berserker and Rider just barely avoided a collision.

Saver quickly brought more distance between him and his enemies as he suddenly stopped and then started to fly _backwards_. One quick glance down showed him that he was on top of a row of Caster's Arrow Plates, making him flying back towards the one who was under orders to kill him and was already above him, preparing to strike.

"**_Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (The Land behind the Mirror)_**!"

Right before the sharp sword cut him in half he split in two people. One was killed and dispersed in black sparks while the other used the boost he gained from Caster to fly further away, turned around and took out one more book and a piece of paper that thanks to the guard on it, Berserker recognized as the **_Pot of Wisdom (Shattering of the Stories)_**.

"**_Höllenzwang (To Call upon the Devil)_**!", was the first that Saver activated and at once the black poodle made its appearance and charged at Berserker. After that he activated the other one. But this time he did not used it to summon a barrage of pages to keep the not-mad Servant at bay. No, this time he placed it all around himself and let it take the form of a giant spider.

"**Ready for round two?!**", he asked.

Berserker had no choice to charge at him but at the same time the door opened and Kiritsugu, Irisviel, Maiya, Waver, Saber of Red and Rider of Red went inside. Both Servants took one look at the situation at hand and then at the same time activated their Reality Marbles:

"**_Other Self (I Am the One Who Takes on Your Pain)_**!"

"**_Hyakki Yakō (My Night Parade of One Hundred Demons)_**!"

And the world was filled with pink light and cherry blossoms.

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

After the meeting of Jubstacheit with Kiritsugu last chapter we have now one on the other side. Only that after the disaster with the magus killer they decided to play it safe and come with the whole pack. Only that they were too late and Kayneth had already agreed to an alliance.

In general the negotiations in this chapter and the last don't seem to go well, do they? At last this time they actually gotten Kariya on their side but unfortunate his Servant isn't.

Oh, and since the battle has yet to be finished, I decided to skip out on the Parameter Charts for the Servants this time and do all of them next chapter. Of course, if you ask me to include them, I will, but otherwise they'll appear in the next chapter.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


	36. Chapter 35: In the Air

**Fate T(w)o Wishes**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, **Shin XIX**, **Planeshunter** and **coronadomontes**.

**!IMPORTANT!**

**Please don't leave until you have read the Author's Note at the end.**

(Unless you only accidentally landed on this page and didn't plan on reading this chapter or have to stop reading and want to come back later.)

Also, please beware of the many Parameter Charts at the end of this chapter. Seriously, why can't fanfiction allow for A/N-chapters?!

Chapter 35: In the Air

"Where are we?", asked one of Saber of Red's yokai, the monk with the skull Rosario to be precise, as he looked around and saw a world filled with broken toys and pink mist.

"Inside Rider's Reality Marble", explained the grandson of Nurarihyon as he also inspected it with great interest. Some things changed from the last time he had been here. One, it was darker and two, in the sky was not a dim sun but a full moon, barely visible thanks to the clouds. Meaning, he could change into his Battle-Form, which he did at once.

"Wow", Irisviel let out in awe, "so this it what happens when you activate two Reality Marbles at the same time…"

"**Correction**", chimed an otherworldly voice belonging to Saver of Red, "**this is what happens when a fake and a real Reality Marble are activated at the same time. That said, could you finally deal with Caster? I didn't put up with Berserker and Rider the whole time just so you let this chance slip away!**"

He was still inside the spider of paper, blocking Berserker of Red's assault. Either with pages soaring at the not-mad Servant or Black Keys shooting out from those.

"**Seriously! Don't the Command Seals have an expiration date?! No, wait! Damn it! They don't!**"

Waver sweat-dropped but for all the Servants assembled this had been the signal to attack. Rider of Red summoned her giant mechanical spider, took her Master and together with him charged at the black-clothed Rider of Black who himself called his dragon-like monster. Lancer of Red took out his lightning spear and joined the fight against Berserker.

"Kurotabo!", Saber shouted and the black monk nodded. "**_Matoi (To Wear the Fear of your People): Buki no Kuro_**!"

For the others it looked like the yokai turned into black fog that laid itself around Saber of Red while the rest of his **_Hyakki Yakō (My Night Parade of One Hundred Demons)_** swarmed out to assist the different allies.

"Let's go! **_Kyōka Suigetsu (The Moon Reflected on the Surface of a Puddle)_**!"

Quickly Caster of Black encased herself in a circle of Arrow Plates pointing outwards. She didn't wanted to get impaled by that sword from behind. Of course, she couldn't move only in the boundaries of the circle but she could sent her arrows out and was save from all attacks coming from the outside. Everything except air…

She spun around in time to see Brawler of Red sending a gust of wind at her. She jumped out of the way onto one of her Arrow Plates and swiftly created more of them in her line of flight with borders pointing away to keep Saber from getting near her. She didn't knew how long she would be able to keep up with this, so it was better to quickly take Saber out of the picture. And what would be a better and more efficient way than killing his Master? So she made the plates guide her directly towards Emiya Kiritsugu.

She was so fast, that he couldn't react at all as she materialized a sword in the shape of an "arrow on a stick" to impale him. That was one more advantage she had over Saver. His **Counter Hero** might reduce her Agility, but the speed at which her plates sent someone towards the depicted direction stayed the same. Not counting both Riders with their mounts she was now the fastest Servant on the battlefield.

But as she hit the Master of the Knight of the Sword, he suddenly dispersed into black fog. Her eyes widened as Saber of Red appeared right next to her and swung his sword to cut her. At the same time she sent out hundreds of arrows he countered with hundred of weapons different types shooting out of his sleeve. Swords, spears, lances, clubs, sickles, they all appeared to block the volley of arrows.

Caster quickly placed two Arrow plates pointing into opposite directions to widen the distance between them. Damn! If she wanted to attack she couldn't let her target fly into the same direction she went and Saber had made use of this. His true Master was high up in the sky, carried by a tengu, just like his wife and companion.

Caster cursed. They were clearly at a disadvantage. The opponent had the advantage in number and territory, Avenger of Black was weak, only able to stall one of Saber's underlings with her **Deadly Everyday Life** and Berserker was not really into it since he was only fighting because of his Master's Command Seal. And she was getting a headache from the voice chiming inside her head, telling her to "Go home!" over and over again. Brawler used **_Als ich ein kleiner Junge war (Not Everything Seen by Children Should be Told to Children)_**, one of her Master's books, to seal Saver of Black's attack of planetary spheres and she had to be on constant look-out for Saber's blade. There was maybe one thing that could turn this situation around:

"_By the power of this Command Seal, I, Caster, order you, Rider of Black, to kill Emiya Kiritsugu!_"

Rider screeched loudly as prana soared through him. Unlike Berserker, he had no trouble following orders. If Caster had told him normally through their mental link he would have complied without question. And that was what made this order so dangerous. Without wasting any mana to make Rider comply, it fully supported his physical capabilities instead.

On top of his mount he soared through the sky directly towards his target, not letting himself be stopped by any macaron that were sent his way or even Brawler of Red's tornados.

"Watch out!", Saber shouted towards his friends as the Phantasmal Beast closed in on them. "Kappa!"

"Yeees~", the amphibian yokai responded enthusiastically and disengaged from Saver of Black to run towards his commander who held his hand out towards him and shouted:

"**_Matoi (To Use the Fear of your People): Oonami Nagareru_**!"

The Yokai turned into black fog and was absorbed by the sword. The guard of the katana turned into an eggshell while the blade itself became water.

Saber swung his modified sword and a torrent of water shot at the flying beast and its rider. But the monster flapped its wings and by a hair's breadth escaped the attack, but the moment of distraction was enough for the Tengu to shatter and widen their distance. But now Caster herself was flying towards her target on a summoned broomstick.

Before she reached him, however, she heard some noise coming from behind and so quickly did an extreme maneuver with her broom to avoid the bullets coming out of a semi-automatic gun that Maiya pointed at her. She cursed the woman for the distraction as now Brawler of Red was between her and her target.

Well. She glanced over to the one who dared to attack her. She might could use that.

Quickly she zigzagged around the unusual pair of human and yokai and summoned her syringe with the black liquid inside. If she had been alone, the female Tengu maybe would have been able to escape the attack but since she was carrying someone, she got pierced dead-center in the back while Caster shouted:

"**_Black Blood (There Is no Fun in Sanity)_**!"

"Sister!", shouted one of the other Tengu horrified as the yokai let go of Maiya. Caster quickly grabbed the woman out of the air and slammed her against the ground for good measure, making her vomit blood before jumping onto her legs and bending her backwards, before thrusting her free arm down Maiya's throat.

All the while the female tengu suddenly to start laughing manically and attack her own brother. However…

"**_De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis (For Nobody Consults with Demons Voluntarily)_**!" …thanks to Saver of Red's Noble Phantasm she quickly came to and looking around, surprise on her face. Caster was a bit disgruntled at that, but decided to not let that destroy her mood, since she got what she wanted.

"You better call off your Servant", she told Kiritsugu, smiling sadistically. She made for a really surreal picture, a small girl with an evil smile, with her right hand gripping the head of an adult woman tightly, forcing her into an uncomfortable positions while having her left hand in the aforementioned woman's mouth. And the words coming out of Caster's mouth didn't exactly help.

"Or do you want this little girl to die?", she continued, as she noticed the woman gasping for air.

"Huh? You want to say something?", she asked mockingly. "Why not…"

Caster took her hand out her throat and Maiya was finally able to breath again. But when the Servant looked triumphant towards Saber, what she saw wasn't anger or hate. It was horror. She was honestly surprised. Did he cared that much for the woman? But Saber was afraid for a completely different reason.

"Don't, Caster!", he plead, "Kiritsugu… he is like Saver!"

Perplexed went Caster's gaze towards his Master. What did he meant, just like Saver… but when she looked into the cold eyes of the magus killer she remembered something that the irregular Servant once had been saying to her in a similar situation:

'We both seem to have different meanings for the word "hostage"!'

Caster wouldn't admit it to anyone, but in this moment she actually paled as she understood the implication and noticed his Master extending the hand with his Command Seals towards Saber of Red.

"**_Les Passions de l'âme (Soul and Body Are One)_**!"

But the attack came neither from Kiritsugu nor Saber, but from Maiya herself, who had pressed a book against Caster's body and activated it. Dark threads escaped from the book and circled around the Servant's arms, legs , torso and neck. However, they didn't restricted her movements. No, instead they literally passed through her skin around her whole body until not even a single trace was visible. But those threads weren't used to bound the body. Their only purpose was to bind the Soul.

Even though Caster had jumped away reflexively the moment Maiya spoke the name of the Noble Phantasm, it had been too late.

Not even landing on the ground again, immeasurable pain soared through her and all her muscles cramped. Unable to control her movements, she crashed into the ground hard, breaking her left arm and rolling over the earth, before coming to halt in a pile of broken toys.

Although **_Les Passions de l'âme (Soul and Body Are One)_** wasn't a Noble Phantasm that would inflict wounds, binding the soul of a Servant to the mortal body of a human was no easy task. Normal people would have said this to be impossible and even if someone were to manage this, the human soul and/or body would get destroyed, but the Noble Phantasm made the impossible possible and even constructed a barrier between the two souls as it fused them to the body.

However, it didn't came without a price. And so Caster had to bear all the toll of the burden placed on the soul and body. Luckily for the human inside, Caster's **Body Possession** was the type that left its victim unconscious, making the human inside pass the ordeal without noticing it.

The moment Caster let go of Maiya, Saber quickly went over to her, catching her upper body, before it hit the ground.

"Are you alright?", he asked her concerned, but the woman just smiled.

"I did well, didn't I?", she asked before looking expectant towards Kiritsugu. Saber shook his head while chuckling relieved.

"You have messed-up priorities", he mused. Meanwhile Caster was pushing the rubbish around her and staggering back onto her feet.

"You…you bitch!", she spat out.

Saber ignored her, turned Maiya around and seated her onto the ground in a more comfortable position, before he straightened himself and turned towards the Servant of the Spells, the tip of his sword confrontationally pointed at her.

"I think you might have an idea, what this Noble Phantasm does, don't you? In this case, you know what is going to happen now!"

Caster was seething in fury as she looked towards the woman who brought her so much pain.

Without any warning Saber suddenly heard a ripping and tearing sound followed by a splash. His vision was impeded as something got into his eye, quickly he tried to get it out, before Caster or someone else used this opportunity to attack him, but stopped dead in his tracks once he opened his eyes and his gaze fell upon his hand that together with one side of his arm was stained by a red substance. He didn't knew why, probably because of some sense of foreboding, but he looked down and on the ground was a giant dark fleck where Maiya had been just a moment before.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Saber of Red screamed, grabbed his sword tightly and ran towards Caster of Black.

"**_The Last Rose of Summer (Who Would Inhabit This Bleak World Alone)_**!" At the same time Saver shouted out the name of a Noble Phantasm and Maiya's remains turned into rose petals that flew past Saber towards his enemy.

On the ground appeared a Vector Plate that sent the petals back to cut Saber in half, only for the Knight of the Sword to turn into black fog. Caster turned around to get a view of her impending doom in form of a yokai-killing sword. But she was still to weakened thanks to having her soul getting fused into a mortal body, so she couldn't do anything, except to wait for her death.

Suddenly a bolt of silver light came from the sky and crashed between them. It revealed six purple lances with dragon heads that levitated in front of a black-hooded man, blocking Saber's strike. Lancer of Black let his lances spun around and crash into the Servant, sending him flying through the air.

"_Rankyaku__!"_

Rider of Red was forced to do slide crudely to the side to avoid a blade made out of air. She looked above to see Brawler of Black coming her way and quickly shot a bunch of macarons towards him, which he all evaded with some quick "_Geppou_".

Brawler of Red whirlwinds found themselves against Berserker of Black blue flames and suddenly all of Saver of Red's summons and books vanished as Saber of Black shouted:

"_Sun, raising in the east, grant me the power to vanquish the foe in front of my eyes!_"

Saver brought out his katana just barely in time to block the next assault from Berserker of Red, but once again the not-mad Servant proved his way superior strength by sending the irregular Servant flying through the air and crashing him into a pile of broken toys. With that not enough, Mithras himself went now personally after his declared nemesis as the same was busy regaining his bearings.

Saver let himself be pulled up by his shoes without straightening himself and avoided the immortal-slaying blade but was now hanging upside-down and in perfect position for the red Berserker to finish him off. Luckily for him the not-mad Servant had suddenly to retreat as a thin beam of light cut through the air between them.

"Ouhohohoho!", chimed a voice as from the surroundings flew dozens of golden ornamented mirrors into the air and circled around them, only to stop once in a while for a red-clothed arm to appear out of one of them and send out a light beam out of his fingertips. In his training with Lancer of Red the Berserker had to deal with that once in a while and so he knew that the beam of light would only vanish, if the hand retreated and also would be reflected by all the other mirrors. But Saber of Black had no experience with them and so they gave Saver of Red the support he needed to survive.

"Thanks, Lancer", shouted the aforementioned Servant towards the Knight of the Lance who was now alone up against Rider of Black. Saver could really count himself lucky that Lancer had stationed this monster beforehand or else he would have been finished since all the others were busy. Even the numerous yokai belonging to the grandson of Nurarihyon were up against Saver of Black, War or Famine without any help whatsoever.

But for the first time since the arrival of "Team Apocalypse" as he called them, Saver had time to analyze the situation. And so he cursed.

"How did you guys even manage to get inside a freaking Reality Marble?!", he shouted enraged, as he blocked yet another attack from Berserker.

"There is darkness in every heart", Lancer of Black explained, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Saver of Red was stunned.

"Darkness…heart?!", he repeated astonished and spared a quick glance towards the robed appearance of his enemy. "You are a 'Nobody'?!"

Now it was Lancer's turn to be surprised.

"It seems we took the right course of action", he surmised before turning to address Caster of Black, "we want to offer Jubstacheit von Einzbern and all his companions an alliance."

Not counting Berserker of Black, Brawler of Red, Brawler of Black and Rider of Red, who were still going at it, everybody was stunned into silence. Saver of Red let out multiple exaggerated gasps. Even though the effects of a Command Seal would not vanish even if the Master were to die, once the "intent" behind the order was gone, the effects would stop. Luckily. Otherwise he would had to deal with Berserker of Red for eternity.

"And alliance between them…", mused Sola-Ui, "aren't those around half the Servants?!"

"Exactly half the Servants plus Berserker of Red", Saver of Red corrected. "Though the latter only as long as his Master has Command Seals to spare."

"I think this is agreeable", Jubstacheit responded towards the proposal of the Servant. Right now this seemed like a sensible course of action. At the moment the four dead apostle and their Servants were a great asset to their cause and if he were turn them down, they might decide to ally with the traitor Emiya.

"I have no problems with that either", confirmed Caster of Black smiling. "Every girl loves getting rescued by a knight in shining armor."

"I am no knight in shining armor", denied Lancer, "but Saber would certainly fit."

A black portal opened near them and Lancer pointed at it.

"Let us first venture to a different place, before we discuss the details", he suggested, "Gaichuu and Sakoshimo will stay behind to make sure, the enemy does not try something fishy, regardless, I would advice to leave united."

"Damn", Saver cursed. Now they were at a disadvantage. Well, actually they could count themselves lucky that they didn't decide to just press the attack. Which raised the question, why didn't they just do it? Did it had to do with the fact that Archer of Black and his Master, as well as Zouken and his Servant weren't here?

No, wait! Was it because they couldn't trust one another not to use the opportunity to stab one each other in the back should it arise in the heat of the battle? Wow, he had never been this glad that there were so many goody-two-shoes on "his" team and so many "evil" guys in the other. Not that he was that much better but at last the other guys could trust him not to attack them until Caster and Saber of Black were dead. Having a cute and (relatively) innocent girl like Brawler as a Servant probably helped…

Jubstacheit von Einzbern, his allies and the newcomers gathered near the portal, Kariya included. Or rather, he went to go but stopped when he remembered something.

"Berserker", he told his Servant, "we are going."

"Hell, no!" Again the not-mad Warrior showed himself stubborn. "Better you use up the next one of those Command Seals!" Saver of Red chuckled. Oh, boy, was he pissed.

But before Kariya could do anything, Lancer of Red spoke up:

"If I may interrupt, I think there is something you should know, before you take drastic measures: Caster of Black's current vessel is Matou Sakura!"

Kariya and his Servant both froze. In unison they turned towards the Servant in question.

"Sakura?", Kariya asked her. Caster smiled sadistically at him.

"Hi, uncle Kariya", she said in a sweet voice before laughing and turning towards Saver of Red.

"Congratulations, Saver! How does it feel, to have sentenced Rin's sister to death?!"

The addressed Servant tilted his head questionly.

"What do ya mean? It doesn't change the fact that for me to kill you, you have to die by Saber of Red's blade. Such a pity, I don't know tracing… regardless…"

He turned towards Kariya.

"It seems the circumstances right now are that to save your precious Sakura, you have to make sure that Saber of Red kills Caster. So, you should probably cancel your current contract and return to your previous one, right?!"

"He is right", Berserker told his Master and put his hand on his Master's shoulder, "to save Sakura, we have no choice but to ally ourselves with Emiya Kiritsugu."

"I will save Sakura and kill Zouken", promised Kariya Jubstacheit von Einzbern, who just looked at him with discontent.

"It seems even the Matou family is not void of traitors. The next time we met, I will not show mercy towards any of you!"

With that he vanished into the black portal and the others followed him. Seeing that they did not tried anything funny, Famine and War decided to postpone their next death and went after their comrades.

Once the portal vanished, both Rider and Saber of Red let their respected Reality Marbles disappear and soon they all stood in the castle again. Saber fell down onto his knees, returning to his Standard-Form.

All the blood on his hands had turned into rose petals when Saver activated his Noble Phantasm but that didn't returned her back to life. He felt Irisviel embrace him from behind and hug him tightly. Silently they cried over the loss of their friend. Waver stood next to them, also looking down while Rider just tilted her head in confusion.

"Well, that was a thing", commented Saver, only to be met with Berserker's blade pointed at him.

"Alright, what is it now?!", he asked annoyed the not-mad Servant who was looking at him with hatred. "You don't need to do that, anymore. The effects of the Command Seal vanished, you know! Oh, I forgot, you're a Berserker! Those guys are usually a little bit slow on the uptake."

"Shut the hell up!", Berserker demanded angrily. "You planned for this! It is your fault that Kariya's precious person is in danger right now!"

"Now, wait a moment", Saver held his hands in front of him protectively, "that's really not my fault this time! I didn't knew that Zouken would let Sakura get possessed by Caster of Black! I am not the Doctor, I don't have a Noble Phantasm that lets me travel into the future!"

"Doctor who?", inquired Waver surprised and Saver crackled.

"Just… the… Doctor", he managed to get out between his laugher. Saber tightened his fists, before freeing himself from Irisviel's embrace and confronted the irregular Servant enraged.

"Stop laughing!", he shouted. "Someone died!" Saver actually stopped laughing. With a serious expression he addressed the Servant:

"What are you so focused on that woman? Didn't you just send a bunch of your guys to die against Saver of Black today?"

"That's different!", he argued. "We are Servants! When we die we just return to our bodies and this all would have been just a dream. But she is gone, forever!"

"Actually the Servants are supposed to be dead altogether, already. So, you're quite the exception. Nevertheless, it's not that big of a deal. I mean, the magi around here believe in reincarnation…"

"Saver."

The one who interrupted him had been Brawler. She just looked at him, shaking her head. There are some things you didn't made jokes about.

"What? You expect me to show some sorrow? I think you don't quite got the memo but I am Angra Mainyu, remember?" Yeah, as if the evil God of Zoroaster would care about some puny human, right?

"Besides", he added, "I have no pity for NPC."

BANG!

Saver spun around, projected three black Keys in each hand and enlarged the blades, so that they covered his head and upper body, blocking the single bullet that had been shot his way. But as the bullet hit one blade, all six of them broke apart in uncountable pieces of metal.

Quickly Saver took out another book. Saber could actually _feel_ it was different from the others. Something about this book just shouted "not made by human hands" and it weren't just the pure white color or the scribbles in a language he as a Servant couldn't understood, though they clearly added to the otherworldly feel.

Now the irregular Servant took this book and pointed it at the one who attacked him: Kiritsugu.

"Now give me one reason, why I shouldn't end you, right here, right now, _magus killer_… wait… are those tears?"

Saber looked towards his Master. And indeed, although his expression right now was one of surprise, if one were to look closer, he could make out the traces of tears that have been running down his face.

"Are you telling me, you actually shot me because I bad-mouthed your assistant and not because you wanted to take me out?!… No, you are the magus killer. If you didn't knew that they would work, you wouldn't use them. So, tell me, how _do_ you know they work on me?!" That was right. He wasn't using any Noble Phantasm or thaumaturgy as of now. So, how did the magus killer knew, he was vulnerable towards the Origin Bullets?

Kiritsugu didn't answered. He himself was surprised by the turn of events. How did he countered it? How did he knew how? The effects of his Origin Bullets weren't common knowledge, so how could he create a counter-measure against them?

Then he realized it.

"It looks like I have failed", he stated which made Saver smile.

"Yep, no world peace for ya. Though you did manage to kill me, which I have to admit, isn't a small feat for a human."

"Am I the only one who doesn't understand what's going on here?", Berserker of Red threw into the circle.

"I am just as confused as you are", admitted Lancer of Red. "What are you two talking about?"

Saver smiled at him.

"What happened is this: Someone else made a wish at the end of the fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War. But Kiritsugu survived even though he lost his Servant. So, what choice did he had except trying it again in a future war? But this one he didn't survived. But what did do you expect, when you go against a Heroic Spirit? To be fair, since it had been a double knock-out, this one's actually rather impressive…"

"You are from the future?!", Waver asked surprised.

"I've been summoned in the future. But from an alternative reality, I think", he corrected, "though if I look at the Servants this time around, I might actually be the one that's closest to this reality…except for maybe Saber of Black… it would explain why he's the only one whose Noble Phantasm I recognize…"

"Then you don't know how this Holy Grail War is going to end?", Lancer inquired and Saver shook his head.

"Nope. With the Servants right now, I have no basis to go by. So, everything's still up in the air… But I guess, everybody here wants to win it, doesn't he?" No matter where he looked, his gaze was met with determination. Or hatred. Berserker and Saber still hadn't forgiven him. Well, doesn't matter.

"Then how about this: Since the number of maximum Servants per team has risen up to ten, which is half of the Servants, why don't we fuse our teams together to one? I mean, if we don't, we are pretty much screwed. I don't think you can get Sakura and Illya back alone."

"Illya?", wondered Saber, "what has Illya to do with this?"

Saver of Red smiled at him menacingly.

"Well, what do you think, good Old Acht's vessel for the Lesser Grail is going to be?"

Irisviel gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as she understood the implications.

"No", she whimpered, "Illya…"

"How do we know, we can trust you?", Kiritsugu asked. "You did say we killed each other."

Saver made a dismissive gesture with his hand.

"Whatever. I killed you, you killed me, I made fun of the death of your assistant, you tried to shot me with an Origin Bullet, I would call us pretty much even. Besides, it not about trust, its more about not being able to attack. See here! The **_Roman-Jewish Treaty (We Recognize your Might)_**!"

Saver took out a piece of parchment, showing it around.

"All those who sign it, recognize each others power and agree not to attack each other, to refrain from helping ones enemies and furthermore support each other in their battles! **_The Roman-Jewish Treaty (We Recognize your Might)_** from Judah Maccabee! The best Noble Phantasm to make people work together without having them stabbing each other in the back. Sign now and pay only half! The manufacturer's suggested retail price, only while stocks last!"

Silence filled the entry hall, followed by a collective face-palming consisting of Saber, Berserker, Lancer and Waver Velvet.

"Yes, he comes from the future", stated Berserker of Red and the three others nodded in unison.

"Where do I sign?", asked Brawler and Saver held the Noble Phantasm out towards her while giving her a ball-point pen.

"What does Tohsaka say to this", asked Kiritsugu as one of the few who managed to stay professional.

"Tokiomi", growled Kariya filled with rage.

"Well, I have to ask him first, of course", admitted Saver, "but since it's Sakura we are talking about, he should be jumping at the opportunity."

"He gave his own daughter to that monster Zouken", raged Kariya but Saver waved his objection away.

"I doubt he knew everything that old vampire planned to do with Sakura", he responded, "once he hears of this, he is going to be fuming!"

Kiritsugu exchanged a glance with the people around. Waver, Kayneth, Lancer, Berserker, Saber, everywhere he was met with affirmative nods, except his own wife, Irisviel. And he knew the reason for that. Teaming up with Tokiomi would mean teaming up with Kotomine Kirei. But did he had a choice. To save his daughter and win the Holy Grail War he had to do it!

"Please ask Tohsaka", he told the irregular Servant, "and if he answers in the affirmative, we will agree to your proposal."

"Great! How about you, Caster? Don't you want to become part of our little gang, too?!"

"No", the war painter answered as he packed away his stuff. Saver was taken aback.

"Huh? Why?"

"I do not kill. I only paint."

"Well, that doesn't really matter much…"

"Why do you want to ally yourself with me, if you don't expect me to fight?" With that Caster walked out of the door.

"Damn", cursed Saver under his breath, "I wanted to catch them all…"

* * *

"Zouken did what?!" Saver of Red chuckled at Tokiomi's outburst.

"I knew you would react this way", he stated smiling.

"This is a clear break of contract!", Tokiomi mumbled, "I gave him Sakura so that he may train her in the art of thaumaturgy, not to turn her body into an offering for a Heroic Spirit!"

"So, I guess, you have no problem with teaming up, do you?"

"No, tell Master Emiya, El-Melloi, Matou and Velvet, that I agree to your proposal and that we will shortly arrive."

"Great! Oh, speaking of Matou…" He waited until he had Tokiomi's undivided attention. "When dealing with him, you shouldn't talk about complicated things. He has gotten a bit of brain damage. So, should he ask you about Zouken, it will be enough to tell him, the old vampire didn't followed your agreement. No need to complicate things."

"I will. Thank you for your advice, Saver."

"Well, then… back your bags, Shirou, we're moving."

"My name is Akage!"

"Whatever!"

* * *

"I welcome you to my humble home, Master Tohsaka, Master Kotomine, Miss Tohsaka and Saver", Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald greeted the guests as they made their way into the castle. He looked down. "And of course Master Akaji and little Miss Tohsaka.

"Tch, why did we have to move?! That's so fucking annoying!"

"Don't worry, Archer", Saver reassured the other Servant, "you are going to get enough of your beauty-sleep. You look too much like a girl, already."

Archer narrowed his eyes.

"Do you want to fucking die?!" Saver smiled.

"There is a reason why I said this only _after_ you signed the **_Roman-Jewish Treaty (We Recognize your Might)_**."

"Tch."

"Behave yourself", Brawler lectured her Master, who just looked at her blankly.

"I don't want to here that from you! Did you ever did something I asked you to do?"

"Yes."

"Did you ever did something I asked you to do not because it was something you would have done regardless?" Brawler stayed silent and contemplated about it. "Thought so!"

"Tone it down, you guys", sighed Berserker, "we have something more important right now."

"Alright, alright", Saver conceded, "but then everybody's going to postpone their private dealings! Any old grudged, disagreements or questions are going to have to wait until after we dealt with Caster and got Sakura and Illya, agreed?"

The people present all gave their content. Though some more reluctantly than others. Especially Kirei was burning to ask Emiya Kiritsugu some questions, but he figured this could wait for one more day. The magus killer wouldn't die that easily, after all.

"Great! Then let's get us settled in and then start this Holy Grail War of Apocrypha! Even though we are one person short…"

"Apo-what?", inquired Akage and Saver laughed.

"Insider-joke."

* * *

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Do you hear that? That is the sound of Plot Armor that is starting to break. From now on, all the Servants will one after another loose their Plot Armor. In other words, from now on the number of Servants will finally decrease. We are now entering the third and last phase of this Holy Grail War. Well, "now" might be the wrong word. The truth is, the next chapters are going to be written in a way, that a month-long wait between them would greatly disrupt the story. (In other words, multiple fights at the same time.)

Since it still doesn't change the fact, that I can only write so many words in a month (and I really should be studying for my exams), I am going to stop publishing the chapters for a long time, probably twelve month, yes, a full year. Afterwards I intent to publish the chapters for the next arc in three to seven days-intervals, instead, before afterwards going back to my monthly-routine.

I hope you can understand my point of view and patiently wait for the continuation.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

PS: Since at the end of act/part/volume one I had put Saver of Red's full Servant Chart I am going to do so this time around, too. Of the others I only included those, I changed something. (Because Saver's already long enough on his own.)

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE:** **Lancer of Red**

Master: Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald  
True Name:  
Sex: Male  
Strength: C  
Endurance: B  
Agility: A  
Mana: A  
Luck: D  
Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

**Magic Resistance**: C  
Cancel spells with a chant below two verses. Cannot defend against Magecraft on the level of _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_.  
**Battle Continuation**: A  
Makes possible to fight even with deadly injuries and can remain alive so long as one does not receive a decisive fatal wound.  
**Territory Creation**: A+  
Allows the creation of a _Castle_, superior to a _Temple._  
**Item Production**: -  
Because Lancer is not suited for it, this skill is lost.

Skills

**Double Summon**: ?  
A rare personal skill that permits a Servant to simultaneously possess class skills from two distinct classes.  
Lancer owns the class abilities from both the Lancer and the Caster class.  
**Collector**: B  
The talent to collect high quality goods.  
Lancer can collect weapons, magical potions and amulets below B-Rank.  
**Eye of the Mind (True)**: A  
is a heightened capacity for observation, refined through experience.  
Not the tiniest detail gets past him. As long as there is a way for him to win, he will find it.

Noble Phantasm

**Gungner: Lightning Bolt  
**Rank: D; Anti-Unit; Range: 4-50; Targets: 20 people  
An electrical lance that shots out a great bolt of lightning, that goes through walls and unliving objects without damaging them.  
**Power of Dominance: For I Am the Lord of Darkness  
**Rank: A; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self/Anti-Phantasmal; Range: 0; Number of Targets: 1  
It allows the user to absorb the souls of monsters and spirits he kills and gain their abilities.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Rider of Red**

Master: Waver Velvet  
True Name:  
Sex: female  
Strength: C  
Endurance: B  
Agility: A+  
Mana: A  
Luck: D  
Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

**Riding**: A  
All creatures but those of _Phantasmal Beast_ and _Divine Beast_-rank can be used as mounts.  
**Magic Resistance**: B  
Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by _High-Thaumaturgy_ and _Greater Rituals_, it is difficult for him to be affected.

Skills

**Mental Pollution**: D  
Provides a small probability that mental interference magecraft will be rendered ineffective. In the condition that the Servant's master is of Evil alignment, and perpetrates acts of cruelty against the Servant, Mental Pollution will increase in rank, further increasing defenses against magecraft. However, as the Servant's psyche is inherently broken, this may result in irreversible deterioration.  
**Telepathy**: A+  
The ability to transmit one's thoughts to people who aren't the Master.  
Rider can speak with any person in Fuyuki City at the same time.

Noble Phantasm

**_Noble Phantasm #1  
_**Rang: C; Anti-Army; Range: 1-99; Targets: 1000 people  
A giant spider-like construct with wheels, capable of high-speed movements and turns. It is also capable of firing an unlimited amount of macarons from its mouth.  
**Another: I Am the One Who Takes on Your Pain**  
Rang: B; Anti-Team; Range: 30-99; Targets: 1000 people  
Rider's Reality Marble. Enemies inside it will hear voices which results in a loss of concentration and decreased reaction speed. Especially effective against those with the skill "Mad Enhancement".  
**_Noble Phantasm #3_**  
Rang: A; Anti-Unit; Range: 10; Targets: 1 person  
If Rider is in peril and a person she holds dear, wants to help her, the person in question will then gain a power corresponding to the card of the Major Arcana the person is most compatible with.

* * *

**CLASS/TITLE: ****Saver of Red**

Master: Akaji Akage  
True Name: Angra Mainyu  
Sex: Male  
Strength: E  
Endurance: E  
Agility: C  
Mana: E  
Luck: E  
Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

**Counter Hero**: A+  
Induces an effective 3-rank parameter reduction against any opponent that can be classified as a 'Hero.' The parameter-down effect is reduced by one rank in the circumstance that the opponent is of the 'Antihero' category.  
**Charisma**: D  
Leadership-skill increases slightly.

Skills

**Human Body**: ?  
Saver doesn't need a Master to exist and has a higher mana regeneration, but can not enter spirit form.  
**Collector**: A+  
The talent to collect high quality goods.  
Saver is capable of collecting all books and written texts.  
**High-Speed-Writing**: A+  
Saver can write fast enough for it not to be noticed.  
**High-Speed-Incantation**: B  
Is the capacity to recite spells at high speeds.  
The words are nearly unable to be understood.  
**Rune Magic**: A  
is knowledge about this type of Magecraft  
capacity to use the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark  
**Acrobatics**: B  
Is the ability to use acrobatic feats in air combat.  
Increases agility by one rank as long as Saver is airborne.

Noble Phantasm

**Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum: Ninety-Five Theses  
**Rank: C; Anti-Army; Range: 1-30; Targets: 60 people  
Sends golems, familiars, puppets and similar constructs without a free will to fight against their former Master.  
**Als ich ein kleiner Junge war: Not Everything Seen by Children Should Be Told to Children  
**Rank: B~EX; Anti-Thaumaturgy; Range: 1-50; Targets: 10 attacks  
Can attract and absorb any supernatural attacks that can be launched. The rank of the attacks it can absorb is higher, the lower the minimum age of the people observing the attacks is.  
**Lutherbibel: So That Even the Uneducated May Hear the Word  
**Rank: E; Anti-Information; Range: 1 Targets: 1 text  
Can display one chosen text in the vicinity in a way that everybody looking at it will think of it as his own mother tongue.  
**The Daily Universal Register: The Londoner Times  
**Rank: E; Anti-Information; Range: infinitive; Targets: infinitive  
A newspaper that has all the noticeable events of the day before in it. You can roll it up to use it as a telescope.  
**Kinder- und Hausmärchen: Once Upon a Time  
**Rank: E~A+; ?; Range: ?; Targets: ?  
When something that happened in similar to one story written in this Noble Phantasm you can force the story to be continued.  
**Desconhort: On the Superiority of Reason  
**Rank: E; Anti-Unit; Range: 1-20; Targets: 1 person  
Reduces the targets "Mad Enhancement" by one rank.  
**El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha: These Are no Windmills  
**Rank: A; Anti-Army; Range: 0-999; Targets: 1000 people  
Can make people and objects look like something or someone different in the same size. As long as its name is not known, even some abilities of the disguise can taken over.  
**Ars Generalis Ultima: The Great Universal Art of Finding Truth  
**Rank: E; Anti-Information; Range: 1-30; Targets: 1 statement  
Shows you, if someone told a lie, as long as with your current information you have any reason to doubt that statement.  
**Liber de Lumine: The Golden Book of Light  
**Rank: C; Anti-Gate; Range: 1-50; Targets: 100 objects  
Turn metal objects in the vicinity into liquid gold.  
**Artifitium electionis personarum: Tracts on Election Procedures  
**Rank: E; Anti-Unit; Range: 1-50; Targets: 100 people  
Makes golems, familiars, puppets and similar constructs without a free will lose their connection to their owner.  
**Huangdi neijing: The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon  
**Rank: D; Anti-Information; Range: 0; Targets: 0 people  
It has at last one cure for every illness and torment of the body written inside of it.  
**Un souvenir de Solférino: All Man Are Brothers  
**Rank: A++; Range: infinitive; Targets: 1 religious building  
By placing it in a chosen area it can turn said area into a Non-Combat-Zone, where everybody absolutely cannot take any hostile actions and receives a small regenerative boost. It can only be removed by the person who placed it.  
**Aesopica: And The Moral of It Is  
**Rank: E; Anti-Army; Range: ?; Targets: 1000 animals  
Gives animals the ability to comprehend and use human speech.  
**Les Passions de l'âme: Soul and Body Are One  
**Rank: A; Anti-Unit; Range: 1; Targets: 1 person  
Binds a soul to the body it's currently inhabiting.  
**Prelati's Spellbook: Text of the Sunken Spiraled City  
**Rank: A+; Anti-Army; Range: 1-10; Targets: 100 people  
The book itself is a monster that functions as a core with its own prana and can summons an army of Horrors, demons from a different dimension.  
**Dr. Fausts vierfacher Höllenzwang: To Control the Ghosts of the Four Elements  
**Rank: C; Anti-Team; Range: 1-50; Targets: 100 people  
Summons apparitions controlling one different element each.  
**Casa Di Logistilla: Destruction Declaration  
**Rank: C; Anti-Unit/Anti-Thaumaturgy; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person  
A thick magic-binding leather book that has the ability to disable magical properties. When equipped it gives "Magic Resistance" of Rank A.  
**Höllenzwang: To Call upon the Devil  
**Rank: B; Anti-Unit; Range: 1-30; Targets: 1 person  
Summons a demon looking like a black poodle that can turn into black fog whenever it is hit. It can be trapped by a pentagram.  
**Arbre de la ciència, Arbor Scientiae: All Science Is Connected  
**Rank: E; Anti-Unit/Anti-Information; Range: 1-50; 1 Noble Phantasm  
Displays name, origin, workings and weaknesses of a scientific Noble Phantasm in the vicinity.  
**Schindler's Liste: One Who Saves One Person Saves the World  
**Rank: D; Anti-Unit; Range: 0-15; Targets: 1 person  
Makes it impossible for one person to putt a bounty on your head.  
**De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis: For Nobody Consults with Demons Voluntarily  
**Rank: C; Anti-Unit/Anti-Information/Anti-Demon; Range: 1-20; Targets: 1 person  
Can free a person from all mental influences, destroy and exorcise demons. Under certain conditions it can also summon demons to answer questions.  
**Jabberwocky: The Monster in the Mirror  
**Rank: A; Anti-Unit; Range; 1; Targets: 1 reflection  
Turns your reflection into the Jabberwocky in the story after reciting the whole poem from the mirror.  
**Über das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne und einiger anderer Gestirne des Himmels: The Doppler Effect  
**Rank: A; Anti-Team; Range: 0-30; Targets: 50 people  
Creates invisible waves that mess with the opponent's sense of gravity and distance.  
**Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There: The Land behind the Mirror  
**Rank: B; Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person  
Creates a mirror-image of you that can take an attack that was meant for you.  
**Pot of Wisdom: Shattering of the Stories****_  
_**Rank: C; Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person  
Covers the user in a giant spider made out of sheets of paper. The user can decide, what kind of pages to use. It can block any attack of a lower rank than this Noble Phantasm.  
**A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick: Just a Modest Proposal  
**Rank: A+; Anti-Unit; Range: 1-15; Targets: 1 person  
Can only be activated on someone as he kills a child in front of your eyes and absorbs its prana. The person in question receives damage direct proportional to the number of children it killed this way. Can not be used by someone who has killed children to absorb their prana.  
**The Last Rose of Summer: Who Would Inhabit This Bleak World Alone  
**Rank: D; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0-25; Targets: 1 person  
Transforms the remains of a person who died in front of your eyes or oneself into sharp rose petals who attack your opponent.  
**The New Colossus: Mother of Exiles  
**Rank: A; Anti-Army; Range: 15-50; Targets: 100 people  
Summons a golem in the size and shape of the American Statue of Liberty. Can only be activated if one has met at last five magi in the current location who are not native to it.  
**Llibre de meravelles: The Lord Holds His Hands Above Me  
**Rank: A; Anti-Unit/ Anti-Thaumaturgy; Range: ?; Targets: ?  
A collection of twenty-seven books with Anti-thaumaturgical properties. Decreases all antagonistic supernatural effects by one.  
**Ġāyat al-ḥakīm wa aḥaqq al-natīǧatain bi-'l-taqdīm: The aim of the wise and the primacy of the worthier of the two arts**  
Rank: C; Anti-Unit; Range: 2-50; Targets: 100 people  
An Arabic grimoire about astrology and celestial magic that creates supernatural effects with the constellations of the stars.  
**Papyri Graecae magicae: Compilation of the Arcane Arts  
**Rank: A; Anti-Unit/ Anti-Army/ Anti-Self; Range: ?; Targets: ?  
A collection of papyri containing different invocations of spells and summonings as well as liturgical rituals.  
**De servitude, libertati christianae non contraria: Slavery Is not in Conflict with Christian Liberty**  
Rank: E; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 1-20; Targets: 1 person  
Can only be activated if someone activates a Command Seal around you. You can prana equivalent to an A-rank Spell.  
**The Loyalist Teaching: Children, Uphold Your Duties to the Pharaoh and Society  
**Rank: A; Anti-Army; Range: 0-99; Targets: 1000 people  
Borrows the power of the Pharaos of the Twelfth Dynasty to summon and command those who have fought under them.  
**Zohar: Book of Light  
**Rank: B; Anti-Unit/Anti-Army; Range: ?; Targets: ?  
A grimoire containing spells of the Kabbalah.  
**The Raven: Nevermore  
**Rank: D; Anti-Unit; Range: 1-99; Targets: 5 people  
As long as your shadow falls on the enemy, he cannot move or release his soul from the body he is currently inhabiting.  
**Traité du monde et de la lumière: Treatise on the Light  
**Rank: C; Anti-Unit; Range: 1-20; Targets: 1 object  
Can manipulate the inertia of an object for a single action at a time.  
**Roman-Jewish Treaty: We Recognize your Might  
**Rank: A+; Anti-Team; Range: infinitive; Targets: infinitive  
All who sign this Noble Phantasm are not able to attack each other and have to support one another against their foes.


End file.
